


Enemy of My Own

by Potatoe_Knight



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: AU, Aged Up (Slightly), F/M, Inspired, Marichat, Reverse Crush (Miraculous Ladybug), Soulmate AU, Soulmate AU- Heartbeat Morse Code, Soulmates, combined AUs, enemies au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-05-28 05:28:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 23,945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19387453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Potatoe_Knight/pseuds/Potatoe_Knight
Summary: Taking some of the most popular Alternate Universes (Soulmate AU, Aged Up AU, Reverse Crush AU, and Enemies AU) to create a story unlike any other.Marinette is the notorious Ladybug, ally of Hawk Moth, ever seeking to steal Cat Noir's Miraculous. But somewhere along the way, she fell in love with her enemy.After Cat Noir meets Marinette, he falls in love with her.Let's see where this goes, shall we?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sariahsue](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sariahsue/gifts).



> This is based off of this( https://sariahsue.tumblr.com/post/185273638109/you-know-what-would-be-more-fun-than-writing-aus ) tumblr post by sariahsue.  
> She has the original idea. I just liked it and decided to write something on it.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Origins of how everything began.  
> Surprisingly, mostly the same, but... of course, if Ladybug and Cat Noir are going to be enemies, they need to become enemies first.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there's anything not expressly stated, it goes on mostly as in the origins episodes.

Marinette woke up to the familiar, constant pulsing of her heart beat. Somehow, she _still_ didn't have it memorized after thirteen years. But she let it go through its whole cycle.

.-/-../.-./.././-./.-/--./.-././.../-/.

Then it began to repeat.

One of these days, she was going to memorize it. Or write it down. Either way, she would eventually look it up, see what it said.

But for now, she didn't care. Knowing her soulmate's name wasn't very crucial in her life right now. Marinette _was_ only thirteen, after all. Besides, she had other, more immediate things to worry about. Like-

"Marinette!" Sabine's voice carried up to where she lay on her bed. "Your alarm's been going off for fifteen minutes! You're going to be late for your first day back at school!"

"Got it, mom!!" she called down.

Marinette sighed and did just that, dreading the incoming day. Hopefully, Chloe wouldn't be in her class again this year.

* * *

Holding the macarons from her father in her hand, Marinette waited to cross since the sign had just changed from allowing passengers to cross to making them wait.

Except… there was an old man in a red Hawaiian shirt finishing crossing the street. And that car coming up wasn't showing any signs of stopping.

Marinette quickly dashed to where the man was in the street and pulled him as well as herself. Unfortunately, in the process, her macarons came smashing to the ground. The box also opened to show only two macarons intact.

Ignoring the loss, Marinette turned her attention back to the old man when he thanked her. "Thank you, miss. Oh! What a disaster."

He was talking about the macarons. Marinette shrugged. "Don't worry, I'm no stranger to disasters, besides, there are still a few left."

He grabbed one and ate it. “Mmmh. Delicious!” His action was fine by her, especially since it was not done unkindly. There certainly wasn't enough to salvage for the whole class anyways.

The school bell rang, and a worried Marinette headed to class.

She was there with time to spare, which was a new experience. She took her usual seat, second row back in the inner aisle of the side near the door.

Chloe approached her. Oh, great. They were in the same class again, and they were _already_ going to have trouble.

“Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

Marinette barely even realized that she spoke aloud. “Ugh. Here we go again.”

“That's my seat,” Chloe not-so-nicely informed her.

”But Chloe,” Marinette protested. “this has always been my seat.”

Ever the sycophant, Sabrina jumped in “Not anymore! New school, new year, new seats!”

“So why don't you just go and sit beside that new girl over there?” Chloe rather demeaningly pointed at a girl in the front row on the other side of the classroom who had red hair, glasses, and a plaid shirt. “Listen. Adrien's arriving today, and since that's going to be his seat, _this_ is going to be _my_ seat. Get it?”

“Who's Adrien?” Why did Marinette say that aloud? She should’ve known better than to give Chloe any ammunition.

The dreadful duo laughed at her expense. “Can you believe she doesn't know who Adrien is?” Chloe all but guffawed. “What rock have _you_ been living under?”

“He's only a famous model,” Sabrina chuckled.

“And I am his best friend. He adores me. Go on, move!”

The new girl came up and confronted Chloe. “Hey! Who elected you Queen of Seats?”

“Oh, Look Sabrina! We've got a little do-gooder in our class this year. What are you gonna do, super noobie? Shoot beams at me with your glasses?”

Apparently, she was having none of it. “Wouldn't you like to know.” She grabbed Marinette by the hand. “Come on.”

Classic Marinette, she tripped and fell “Sorry, sorry, sorry…”

“You’re fine,” the other girl said as they came back to their own seats. “Don’t let those who don’t care about you step all over you, okay?”

She nodded, then brought out her last macaron, splitting it in half and offering one to this new, perhaps, _hopefully_ , friend. “Marinette,” she introduced.

“Alya,” she said, smiling as she took it.

* * *

Adrien was racing towards what would hopefully be his new school. His heart was pounding louder than usual, so he could hear his heartbeat, the rhythm familiar.

.-../.-/-../-.--/-.../..-/--.

As he reached the front steps, up came Nathalie and his bodyguard. The secretary called out to him. “Adrien, please reconsider! You know what your father wants!”

“This is what I wanna do!” he retaliated. And he was about to go into the school except… there was an old man on the ground, struggling to reach his cane.

He couldn’t help it. Adrien had probably seen _one_ too many of those Life Alert commercials. _Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!_ So, instead of climbing the rest of the stairs and going to school, he rushed over and helped the man.

At least said old man was kind. “Thank you, young man,” he hailed his rescuer. Or perhaps that was just Adrien being overly dramatic in his inner narrations again.

Adrien knew even before he got back that he was going to be blocked from entrance. His father’s employees were too loyal. But he still wished that he could have finally begun going to school.

* * *

“Those of you who have P.E., Mr. D'Argencourt is expecting you at the stadium. The rest of you can head over to the library,” Miss Bustier excused the class.

“Kim!” Ivan shouted angrily.

Marinette saw her new friend Alya’s eyes light up in interest at the exchange as Miss Bustier diffused it and sent Ivan to the office.

Once they were in the library, Alya excused herself to go to the bathroom.

Marinette decided that her behavior was odd. But she stopped wondering about it when the news of the giant stone being came on and they were all sent home.

* * *

“Okay,” Marinette- err, this superhero version of herself- said. “I have special powers! And… apparently this amazing yoyo-thingy?”

She grabbed said yoyo off of her waist. Might as well try it out. What harm could there be in it?

As she shot it off and a slight tug contracted it, sending her flying, she understood that the answer was _a lot_.

Leave it to Marinette to make a fool of herself from clumsiness, even with, or maybe especially because of, super powers.

All she really knew besides the terror of flying through the air is that she crashed into something- maybe some _one?_ Someone. She could feel another body right against hers. More specifically, another heartbeat acting interference against her own, though it was also beating strongly. Which created a strange sensation where she could feel her own heartbeat along with the other person’s.

.-/-../.-./.././-./.-/--./.-././.../-/.

.-../.-/-../-.--/-.../..-/--.

They got caught and tied together in her yoyo string, which caught on _something,_ and were promptly suspended in the air.

Opening her eyes, Marinette got a chance to see who she had crashed into. The view was that of a blond head with cat ears on it, and an equally black mask around green, cat-like eyes. A fellow superhero?

“Well, hey there,” he greeted. “Nice of you to drop in.”

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Marinette apologized. “I didn’t do it on purpose.”

They freed themselves not _too_ gracelessly. On the ground, the guy in a black leather suit continued speaking to her.

“I bet you're the partner my kwami told me about. I'm... Cat Noir. Yeah, Cat Noir. And you?”

What sort of name was Cat Noir to compete with? And how was Marinette supposed to come up with one on the spot just like that? Still, she instinctively started to introduce herself before realizing that, _duh_ , they were supposed to have secret identities. Hence why he called himself Cat Noir. “I'm Ma... err... Mar... uhh…” Marinette finally pulled the yo-yo free and it hit Cat Noir’s head. “Madly Clumsy. I'm so clumsy.”

“No sweat, clumsy girl,” Cat Noir laughed it off. “I’m still learning the ropes myself.”

Suddenly, the floor began trembling and a building collapsed in the distance. Right. Saving Paris. They could make friends later.

* * *

“You were incredible, miss... uh... Bug lady. You did it!” Cat Noir exclaimed after the battle. Really, it had mostly been her. He didn’t know how he’d have functioned without her.

“We both did it, partner,” the polka dotted superheroine replied. Really, that was a bit generous.

He put up his fist, inviting her to bump it. She did, and they both simultaneously said, “Pound it!”

His Miraculous took the opportune moment to beep just then.

“You should get going. Our identities must remain secret,” the… girl said.

“Farewell…?” Cat Noir purposefully left the statement open, hoping for her to fill it with her name. Superheroine name, that is.

“Uhh…” she hesitated for a second. “Ladybug! Call me Ladybug.”

“Ladybug, huh?” he mused around with the name. “Well, then, farewell _m’lady._ Let’s do this again soon, okay?”

She nodded, and Cat Noir left. His new alter ego was going to have a fun time with this partner and saving Paris.

* * *

* * *

Marinette was still caught up in her crisis of confidence the next day when she met up with her new friend, Alya, in the courtyard.

“Hey, pigtails,” Alya said by way of greeting.

Marinette managed to make herself smile and wave. “Hi, Alya.” Would _she_ be interested in being a superhero?

Suddenly, Alya pulled her in close and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Now listen. I like you, so I just want to be your friend, not your enemy. Got it, pigtails?”

Marinette frowned. “What do you mean?”

She took a deep breath before starting. “I think you could tell. I’m the villain. I’m calling myself Hawk Moth. I’m _why_ Ivan there turned into a giant stone monster. It’s _my_ magic that is keeping those butterflies out there, turning more people into stone monsters as we speak. And you’re the only one who could even _probably_ fix it.”

Oh. That explained a lot. Evidently she knew who Ladybug was, and that it was Marinette. Most people hadn’t even seen her, though, so it must’ve been seen through the eyes of the stone monster yesterday. “Why are you telling me this?” Marinette asked, freaked out.

“I’m making you an offer,” Alya said authoritatively. “Like I said. I like you. So it’s obvious that you can’t easily take care of my akumas. But… maybe you could help me instead.”

“I…”

Marinette’s response was interrupted by a disturbance at the gate. The pair decided it would be a good time to head up to class.

“I just don’t understand why you’d be a supervillain,” Marinette said once they were up in the classroom, still speaking in hushed tones.

Alya blinked, looking almost as though she were about to tear up. “You see, I want the Miraculouses. The earrings of creation and ring of destruction. My kwami, Nooroo, told me that if I use them together, I’ll be granted one wish. And I know that this’ll sound childish, but… a few months ago, my older sister Nora died. And she was a great big sister, so I want her back.”

Marinette couldn’t quite say she knew what it was like to have lost such a loved one, but if one of her parents had died, she would hate it, and do anything to get them back.

“And having a friend to help would be nice, especially if it gets me halfway to my goal already,” Alya continued. “I promise that I’m a great friend. I’ll always be there for you. And judging by how no one else stood up for you against Chloe, you don’t have any close friends either.”

Marinette took a deep breath, not quite sure what she was going to say before she said it. “I accept.”

She pulled out the earrings and replaced them. Her kwami, Tikki, reappeared, looking back and forth between Marinette and Alya with increasing concern in her eyes.

* * *

Adrien had been prevented from going to school _yet again._

Which left him resigned to the fact that he would be trapped in this mansion for the rest of eternity.

Nevermind, he needed to stop his mind from being so overly dramatic.

It also left him to stew over the fact that there was really nothing to be done about the stone creatures continually proliferating the town more and more.

Until all at once, they started moving.

Well, now it was time to spring into action.

* * *

Class _still hadn’t_ started yet. Just how early had Marinette gotten there again?

Alya gasped. “Ivan’s angry, I can feel it.” 

She started to slip away with the excuse of bathroom. Marinette excused herself in the same manner, but caught her new friend and partner before they reached their intended destination to transform.

“What do you want me to do?” Marinette asked. Before, it was rather easy. Stop the stone person from completely destroying Paris. But now…

“Get Cat Noir’s Miraculous.”

* * *

Where. Was. _Ladybug?_

Cat Noir was trying to fight these stone monsters _alone._ Finally, after subduing one group of the monsters, Cat went up to the rooftops and took a look around. There, at the Eiffel Tower, was Stoneheart.

As Cat got to a closer range, he could make out a second, smaller being on it. Ladybug. But… she wasn’t trying to fight Stoneheart. And _he_ wasn’t trying to fight _her._ All she seemed to be doing was… looking around. For someone?

Then their eyes met. Ladybug came down, starting towards him. It must’ve been _him_ she was looking for.

Cat came closer to _her_ as well. He was still very confused. Something must’ve changed, and he needed to hear from her what it was. They needed to figure out how to defeat Stoneheart so that they could purify his akuma and not be bothered by it again.

Until… when they were close enough, Ladybug swung out her yoyo, and it wrapped around him. He slipped out of it easily, but kept ahold of it. “Ladybug! I thought we were going to be working together to defeat Stoneheart!”

Ladybug grimaced. “I’m not your partner anymore!”

Cat Noir was shocked, to say the least. But it was fairly straight forward in meaning, so for whatever reason made it happen, they were now enemies.

Clutching his end of the yoyo, Cat Noir started swinging it around and let it go flying, with Ladybug on the other end.

He quickly approached where the news vans and the mayor were. Currently, said mayor was demanding the release of his daughter Chloe. Cat Noir could only guess what she had done to get herself in trouble with the monster.

Whom Stoneheart promptly sent flying. Knowing that _someone_ needed to take action, Cat Noir dove forward and caught her to prevent her becoming a stain on the ground. She happily reunited with her father.

Ladybug was nowhere to be seen. Which Cat Noir supposed was… _good,_ now. That would become the norm. Especially if there became more and more fights.

While Stoneheart wasn’t doing anything _too_ threatening, Cat Noir took the opportunity to talk with the news crews and police officers to really assess the situation. It appeared the monster still had a hostage, whose safe return was needed.

During that downtime, Ladybug finally had recovered from the flight Cat Noir had given her and shown up. She takes a deep breath and uses her “Lucky Charm!”

Cat Noir remembers from the day before that it helped her win the fight, and becomes immensely worried. He isn’t sure how much a _parachute_ would help her, but still dashes forward and grabs it out of her hands before she can do anything with it. He straps it to his back while running up to the Eiffel Tower where Stoneheart was.

At the very least, Ladybug was now on a timer. If he could outlast her, he would only have to worry about Stoneheart. So all he had to do now was to stay away from Ladybug. He wasn’t sure what he would do about Stoneheart, but he could try something.

Before he got there, however, the monster- had Plagg used the term _akuma?-_ coughed up a _lot_ of butterflies. Literally, an entire _hoard_ of them forming into a face. It looked like… a teenage girl? Whoever it was _definitely_ had fabulous hair.

“People of Paris, listen carefully. I am Hawk Moth.”

And Cat Noir thought that _he_ was dramatic. Take _that_ for an impressive introduction.

“Cat Noir, give me your ring now. You've done enough damage to these innocent people!”

As though it were _his_ fault. He was already angry. Now, Cat Noir was simply more angry but… righteously so. He came even closer. “Nice try, Hawk Moth, but I know who the villain is. Let's not reverse the roles here. Without you, none of these innocent victims would be transformed into villains. Hawk Moth, no matter how long it takes, I _will_ find you, and YOU will hand me YOUR Miraculous!”

Cat Noir paused as he used his baton to vault himself up to the Eiffel Tower. He readied his “Cataclysm!” and thrust his hand up into the mass of butterflies, watching as it spread through the entire hoard, turning them all into dust. He turned back to where the news crews were.

“Let me make this promise to you. No matter who wants to harm you, I will do everything in my power to keep you safe!”

Absurdly, at that point, Stoneheart proclaimed, “I’ll never let you take Mylene away!”

 _He doesn’t want to get away from Mylene,_ Cat Noir thought, taking the name to be the girl’s. _So that must not be the answer. If I could bring them closer together…_

That gave him an idea. He actually was able to formulate a plan. Figure out what the parachute could be used for.

Cat started to climb.

He went to the top of the tower. Unsurprisingly, Stoneheart came after him. Which was exactly what Cat Noir had been expecting.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to deal with Ladybug, who seemed to have slunk off somewhere to detransform.

Once within easy range, Cat used his baton to push Stoneheart’s hand and make it so that he pretty much kissed Mylene. Which startled the creature, causing him to simultaneously lose his grip on the tower and on the girl.

Cat Noir broke into a dive and caught the girl, then using the parachute to be safe. He trusted that the walking piece of stone could weather the tumble to the ground.

The akumatized piece of paper was still out of his grip when Cat Noir arrived on the ground, and he wasted no time in breaking it.

He caught the akuma, then upon hearing a warning of a beep on his Miraculous, ran away into an alley.

He had no idea what to do with the akuma. Just that he didn’t want one to escape again.

“Cat Noir!” he swirled towards the voice that had been behind him. It was Ladybug, apparently recovered.

He looked at her sheepishly. “We _were_ partners. Only yesterday. So can I ask you one last favor?” He held up the akuma.

She didn’t _say_ anything, except that she _did_ catch it in her yoyo, which purified it. Then she held out one hand. “The parachute,” she said by way of explanation.

Cautiously, Cat Noir handed it to her, hoping that it wasn’t a bad decision. But he was relieved when she only threw it up and said, “Miraculous Ladybug!”

She gave him a pointed stare. “This is the only time I’m doing any favors for you. Hawk Moth will give me a hard time just for doing this.”

Cat Noir smirked. “I know it, _m’lady._ ” This got her cheeks to color.

He turned, left, and found a good place to detransform.

Adrien knew that he had seen his partner for the last time.

Ladybug and Cat Noir were now Enemies.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Five Years Later...  
> Life has slipped into a norm for them. Marinette and Cat Noir meet.

Five years later, and they were still enemies. Neither of them had managed to secure the other’s miraculous. Despite Alya’s early protests on the subject, Ladybug restored the city after each battle. Using the Lucky Charm that Cat Noir usually stole and used to defeat her, though he always left it for her to restore afterwards.

Five years later, and Ladybug was all the more in love with him.

It started with genuine admiration. Cat Noir always stood up for what  _ he _ believed to be true. He always managed to protect the city from total devastation by the akuma Ladybug worked with.

Then… his  _ flirting. _ His flirting got her every time. In attempts to distract her in battle, he made comments in the side about falling in love with him,  _ m’lady, bugaboo, LB. _ And the puns. Oh the  _ puns. _ Though she ignored them in the midst of the fight, they worked their magic on her instantly.

So, ultimately, Ladybug was in love with her enemy.

After yet another fight, after yet another cease-fire, Ladybug came back to her balcony, detransformed, opened her door down to her room, and  _ collapsed  _ onto her bed _. _

It wasn’t so much that she was tired, though the fight  _ did  _ wear her out. It was Marinette’s churning stomach, full of nervous butterflies from seeing Cat Noir, like she always did. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

.-/-../.-./.././-./.-/--./.-././.../-/.

Marinette let out a deep sigh, doing her best not to wish too much that they didn’t have to be enemies.

Tikki flew up to float by her head. “You know, you don’t  _ have _ to fight him.”

Marinette sighed again, this time in frustration, not hopeful wishes. “Tikki, we’ve been over this a thousand times. Alya just wants to bring her sister back. And if she does, all this fighting and state of flux will be over. Is that really such a bad thing?”

The kwami let out a little frown. “Alya doesn’t know the true nature of the wish. If she-”

“You can tell her about it, then. You’ll need to convince Alya to give up on the wish to convince me.”

Tikki dropped the topic, but didn’t look happy about it. “Fine. Then let’s talk about Cat Noir instead. What lines did he use this time? Any new or particularly creative puns?”

Marinette buried her face in her pillow, trying- and failing- to hide her blush.

* * *

Cat Noir slipped into his room through the window left ajar. He detransformed and sighed in relief.

That was one intense fight. Maybe he hadn’t achieved his constant goal of retrieving Ladybug’s Miraculous, but he had at least prevented her from stealing his.

But for now, he was nearly about to miss his piano lessons. Gabriel  _ still _ made him take piano lessons at the age of eighteen, along with fencing, chinese, and a constant photoshoots. It really made it difficult to balance all of that with being Cat Noir, and that was not even considering the time allotted for his education, even though he was still homeschooled.

“Wait!” Plagg called out to him before they left. “Now, don’t you  _ dare  _ consider leaving without getting me Camembert to recharge.”

Adrien sighed and rolled his eyes, but retrieved a piece of the offensive-smelling cheese. “What would I ever do without you?” he said, emphasis on the sarcasm.

“Not be Cat Noir, for one.” Of course Plagg  _ had _ to give the harsh answer. At least he immediately removed the foul scent by eating it afterwards.

“Smell nice, for one,” Adrien retorted.

All the kwami gave in response was a noncommittal shrug before Adrien forced it to follow him out the door.

* * *

Adrien always did Patrol as Cat Noir. Every single night. No matter what.

Usually, it was okay. What he looked forward to in his, a chance to get out.

But then there were days like today, when he was still exhausted from a fight with Ladybug and an akuma, and his schedule was chalk-full as it was.

It was days like these that he dreaded Patrol on. And he hadn’t even made it to that point yet. He was still waiting for his father to show up for dinner.

They were supposed to eat together today. Hopefully Gabriel wasn’t so caught up in his work that he would completely miss dinner again tonight. But Adrien had already been waiting for an hour, struggling not to fall asleep from how tired he was, so it wasn’t hopeful.

Sure enough, a few minutes later, Nathalie came up to him. “Your father is busy working, and will be unable to join you this evening,” she informed him.

Adrien sighed. “Fine. I’ll take my meal in my room, and then go to sleep.”

Nathalie nodded her understanding and Adrien took his meal up to his room. After slowly and sadly eating his food, he checked the time. It was about fifteen minutes before he usually started Patrol. But he was tired, and  _ really _ just wanted to get home already so that he could get to bed. Besides, fifteen minutes wasn’t that much of a difference, right?

Plagg had plenty of time to eat and recharge, so Adrien felt no guilt in already saying, “Plagg, claws out!”

He went through most of his patrol route without incident, but near the end, he heard someone call his name. “Cat Noir!”

It sounded very similar to that last time he and Ladybug worked together even partially. Cat Noir’s heart pounded louder became of the familiar memory that he had replayed constantly and that his hope for Ladybug returning to good had lived off of for the past five years.

.-../.-/-../-.--/-.../..-/--.

As he turned, he saw it was a civilian girl, about his own age, on her balcony. He came to her balcony and balanced on the railing. The girl was pretty and petite, with nice, stylish clothes on and her hair in pigtails in a way that should have seemed childish but she somehow managed to pull off.

She looked… almost surprised that he actually came to see her, and somewhat awestruck. Cat Noir gave her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. “So I am. And you are…?”   
He left it open, like he had for Ladybug all those years ago.

“Marinette!” the girl squeaked out. “And you’re awesome!”

Cat Noir raised an eyebrow at that. Had she called him over just to tell him that, or was this one of those awkward love confessions that he often got? “I know.”

Marinette looked full of nerves. “I mean, of course you are! You’re saving Paris constantly! And you always do it so suavely! I love you… doing all this work for Paris. I’m rambling, aren’t I? Oh, goodness. I am. I need to stop.” She stopped and took a deep breath. “What I really want to say is… thank you for being you.”

That was new, but not unwelcome. Cat Noir was used to only fangirls professing their  _ love _ to him, or most citizens thanking him for saving Paris. But this… it wasn’t something that he got in his regular life, and it was much needed.

“Keep up the good work,” Marinette continued. “Know that you work the way you do for a reason. Honestly, I’m not sure if anyone else could do what you do.”

Cat smiled shyly. “Thank you for telling me. I know that I need to keep doing it regardless of how much it is appreciated, but it’s always nice to be told.”

Marinette returned his smile. She looked quite dazzling with it. “Of course. I know that it must be tough. It always looks so hard… And you’re still human, after all. Everyone needs a pick-me-up from time to time.” She sighed contentedly.

“As much as I hate to leave, I need to finish my patrol.”

Marinette nodded. “Go on your way then. I’ll be fine here. No need to worry about  _ this _ civilian.”

Cat Noir turned around and used his pole to launch himself up off of her roof. He was still equally exhausted, and did fall asleep quickly by the time he finished up Patrol and arrived back in his bedroom, but he was glad he went today. He needed that bit of appreciation.

* * *

Once Cat Noir left, Tikki flew up to Marinette. “You don’t want to be on the same side of the battle as him, hmm?”

Marinette felt her face flush a deep red. “M...maybe. I still like him. A lot. You know that Tikki.”

The small red kwami sobered up, but kept a contented grin on her face. “Did you really mean it when you thanked Cat noir for saving Paris?”

She groaned. “I don’t know, Tikki. I mean, I appreciate that Paris is safe. That’s why I always restore everything, even though Alya doesn’t like it. But I also wish that he could understand that giving his miraculous to her would be the easiest way to make all of this stop.”

Tikki remained silent for a moment. “I think he believes the only way to keep Paris safe is defeating Ladybug and Hawk Moth.”

Marinette sighed. She didn’t want to rehash this old argument with TIkki. So she just went to bed instead.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya tries salvaging Marinette's love life.  
> Adrien had lunch with Chloe.  
> Cat Noir and Marinette meet again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is mostly just building up for the next one.  
> Things will actually start picking up more there.

“Looking _sad_ there, pigtails.”

Marinette looked up to see Alya. She stood up a little straighter, forced her mouth into a smile. “I think you’re getting _sad_ and _tired_ mixed up there, Alya.”

Alya chuckled. “I know your tired face, as your long-standing friend of five years. That face you’re making is even _more_ long and pale, with even _deeper_ bags under your eyes.” Her friend patted her on the back. “Despairing from the lack of action in the _love_ department again?”

That was always the excuse that Marinette used when she couldn’t hide her pining after Cat Noir. Honestly, it was true enough. Alya simply didn’t know that she wanted a very _specific_ development to happen. “Yeah,” she sighed.

Her friend chuckled at that. “You could always try a second date with Nathaniel or Luka. Their offers are still standing, and both are single at the moment.”

Marinette’s frown deepened at that. “And my answer to both is _still_ no. They both are nice, but dislike Ladybug too much. Why do you keep trying to push them on me when you know that?”

Alya shrugged. “I’m just saying that they’re nice, and you might be able to get past that or convince them otherwise if you get to know them better. If there’s anyone else you’d like to ask out, say the name and I’ll support you.”

Just then, they met up with Nino. He had been Alya’s boyfriend for the past four years, after the time that he invited them to the zoo, intending for it only to be with Marinette whom he had a crush on at the time. Ultimately, Alya’s dad, who was in charge of the new panther exhibit, got enraged at Kim mocking the panther. Usually, Alya would do her best to capitalize on it, but he first let out the panther loose, and then a lot of other zoo animals. When Cat Noir showed up to help diffuse the situation, Marinette shoved them into a cage together so that she could transform into Ladybug and fight him. While there, they learned they had a lot in common, and ended up starting a relationship that was still strong. They were as close as could be, and Marinette knew the only secret between them was that Alya was Hawk Moth.

She walked up to her boyfriend and gave him a peck on the lips. “Except Nino, of course.”

Apparently Nino had heard enough of their conversation before that to know what they were talking about. “If you want, I could find a friend and we could all do a double date.”

Marinette shook her head. “Thank you for the generous offer, but I’m not _that_ desperate.”

Mostly, she was still holding out hope for ever getting Cat Noir to like her. After she defeated him, of course. Five years, and she still couldn’t even consider anyone else for more than one date.

Alya stuck out her tongue and blew it. “Pfft. Right. That’s not what your _face_ told me this morning.”

They walked into the classroom, only to be startled by the sight of Chloe decked out considerably. She was definitely going somewhere.

Before these last five years, Marinette wouldn’t have said anything. But during her time as Ladybug, she had gained confidence. “Chloe! What dance are you going to be the disco ball, with all that bling?”

Chloe harrumphed. “As if! I’m getting out early, to go on a date with Adrien.”

Marinette looked at Sabrina, who rolled her eyes. Then it was _no. Not_ a date. In the past few years, Sabrina had gone from being an overzealous sycophant to _less_ of a sycophant.

Marinette sighed, taking a spot in the front seat next to Alya. At least that meant only _part_ of the day would be insufferable.

* * *

“Am I wearing too much jewelry?”

The question came out of the blue. Adrien looked up in surprise from his lunch at Chloe. “What makes you ask?”

She looked up aloofly, which was his friend’s way of pretending not to be bothered even when she really was. “Well, at school before I left, Marinette Dupain-Cheng quite rudely asked if I was going to be a disco ball at a dance, because of all the jewelry I was wearing.”

Adrien suppressed a chuckle. He could see this girl’s point. But the name _Marinette_ rung a bell. It wasn’t that common of a name, was it? Could it be the same girl he met last night? The balcony he had been on _had_ been near a school that he knew at least _used_ to be where Chloe went.

 _“Well?”_ she drew his mind back to the conversation.

“Sorry,” Adrien apologized. “I just… can see her point. Honestly Chloe, if you think gaudy jewelry is going to work on anyone, you’re trying to impress the wrong people.”

Chloe pouted and turned back to her sushi. He saw her for lunch like this about once or twice a month, which was the only interaction he got with people around his own age.

Adrien’s mind drifted back to Marinette. She _was_ about his age. And if she were the same one Chloe was talking about, he think he liked her all the more for that comment she made and being willing to put Chloe’s ego in check.

And _that_ was without mentioning how her comments from last night had already begun helping him through the day.

His father didn’t show up for breakfast.

_“You’re awesome!”_

Forced into a last-minute photoshoot against his will.

_“I mean, of course you are! You’re saving Paris constantly!”_

A fellow model hitting on him and calling him uncouth and rude and worse names after he rejected her.

_“And you always do it so suavely!”_

An anti-fan outside the photoshoot calling him frivolous and unimportant.

_“I love you… doing all this work for Paris.”_

Nathalie’s off comment of wishing he weren’t so interested in video games when he spent too much time on them and almost made them miss this lunch appointment with Chloe.

_“What I really want to say is… thank you for being you.”_

He could only imagine what the other ones could help him through.

_“Keep up the good work. Know that you work the way you do for a reason. Honestly, I’m not sure if anyone else could do what you do.”_

Adrien couldn’t help but think that his thanks last night hadn’t been adequate.

* * *

Marinette had surprisingly actually finished her homework.

She leaned back and stretched, yawning. She would’ve liked to play some video games, but didn’t want to worry about waking up her parents who had already gone to bed. But still, it wasn’t _that_ late, and she didn’t want to go to bed yet.

Well, she _was_ still interested in fashion designing, but hadn’t had much time for it lately. Marinette pulled out her sketchbook, ready to start drawing.

And immediately drew a blank.

“Tikki!” she complained to her kwami. “I’ve had so many great ideas the past few days. And _now_ that actually have a chance to design anything, I can’t think of ANYTHING!”

The kwami flew up to her. “Why don’t you go up to your balcony and try it up there? You always say that Paris always inspires you.”

That _was_ true… and it was nice weather outside. “That sounds _excellent._ ”

* * *

As Cat Noir approached the balcony he had seen Marinette on Patrol the night before. He paused on the roof next to it, paying more attention to the building itself.

Sure enough, he noticed that she was situated on top of a bakery… the Dupain-Cheng bakery. He grinned. This girl had literally made his day.

Marinette was up on her balcony. Cat Noir came up behind her, and was just about to jump out in front of her when he noticed that she was drawing.

Not just anything. She was drawing clothes. Designing then. Was she interested in fashion? These designs were good.

Cat Noir couldn’t help himself. “Whoa…”

Marinette whipped around, her face flushed, closing her sketchbook defensively. “Cat Noir!”

He grinned sheepishly, jumping down from where he had been perched in front of her. Marinette kept her book clutched to her chest. “Sorry. I saw you were out here, and came to talk to you again. But then I saw you drawing, and… looked and saw what you were drawing. You’re interested in fashion?”

Marinette groaned. “I _am._ But I don’t think I’m very good at it.”

“Actually, those were pretty good,” Cat reassured her.

She peeked out from behind her sketchbook. “You really think so?”

He nodded. “Definitely. I’ve spent a lot of time around fashion, and have seen worse designs receive a good amount of positive attention.”

Marinette bit her lip. Nervous, but hopeful. “That’s nice to hear. Like I said, I’m very insecure about this. I haven’t even told my parents or my best friend about it.”

“And here I am, learning this about you the second time I talk to you,” Cat Noir chuckled.

She started to laugh along with him. Such a cute noise. “Exactly! Before this I’ve only ever told-” Marinette cut off suddenly, as if afraid of saying something.

“What?” Cat asked. “Now I’m curious. And you know what they say about me and curiosity…”

Her face burned up even more. “Well, since we wouldn’t want to kill you, I’ll tell you. I’ve actually told… don’t laugh at me… This Ladybug that comes around. I call it Tikki, and I talk to it about _everything._ It also kinda just… follows me around everywhere. It’s really like my best friend, even better than Alya.”

Cat Noir nodded his understanding. That’s what it was like for him with Plagg. And he wasn’t surprised that she still liked the insects even though one of the supervillains of Paris was themed after one. The bug had done nothing wrong.

Cat Noir got up from where he just now realized that he had sat down. “Well, keep up the good work. I look forward to wearing your clothes someday.” He winked at her.

“I don’t know if I’m _that_ good,” Marinette protested.

He shrugged. “Still. Think about telling someone about it. Or if you’re too scared for that, I’ve heard that Gabriel Agreste is holding a fashion contest for upcoming designers.”

She smiled that wonderful smile at him again. “That sounds good. I think I might do that.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cat Noir learns yet another secret about Marinette.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is where the Marichat *really* starts to come in. Even though there's already been a good amount of it so far.

The next day was  _ Saturday. _ While most people were probably excited for the weekend to start, Adrien was… not.

The weekend was the really busy time for him. No, he didn’t have his schooling, or fencing, or Chinese Lessons, or Piano lessons. Those were replaced by formal dinners, high society events for charities or fashion or something, going with his father to meet investors, and occasionally, a fencing tournament. Regardless, throughout the always busy and stifling schedule of it, he  _ always _ looked forward to Patrol.

It was the only chance Adrien got to breathe on these busy weekends if there weren’t an akuma attack.

* * *

Marinette had gone up to her balcony again that night, her sketchbook open this time. She wasn’t drawing anything specific, just doodling mindlessly while her mind wandered.

Cat Noir saw her designs. And he  _ liked _ them. He thought she could succeed in the fashion world, and had even encouraged her to go into it.

She sighed dreamily at the memory. As though she didn’t have it bad enough on for him already.

She’d looked into the fashion design contest that he had mentioned. It was for some gloves, though even the style wasn’t specified. It left every detail up to the contestants. The prize was its being modeled by either Adrien Agreste or some other female model whose name she didn’t remember. In fact, she only remembered Adrien’s because Chloe was  _ constantly  _ talking about him.

Marinette heard someone land on her roof. Cat Noir. Marinette stood up, not bothering to close her sketchbook. “You’re here.”

He smiled. “Of course. It’s been two times already. That makes it a tradition.”

She fought a blush from rising on her cheeks. That would be wonderful. She should say it, but- “I’ll look forward to it.”

Great. That’d  _ definitely _ get endless torment out of her from Tikki later.

“So what are you doing out here?” Cat Noir asked, coming next to where she was standing.

She shrugged. “Just doodling.”

Her eyes drifted down to her sketchbook. Then she saw what she’d been drawing.

Cat Noir.

* * *

Cat Noir followed Marinette’s gaze down to her sketchbook.

And saw a drawing of himself. A very  _ nice _ drawing of himself. Very accurate. Almost  _ too _ nice.

Cat did his best to keep himself from spluttering. “That’s… very detailed.”

For her part, Marinette instantly snatched up the book and closed it, red faced. “Sorry. I really  _ was _ just doodling around, thinking about something else. I didn’t realize what I had drawn.”

He sighed. “That was remarkably well-drawn for not consciously drawing it.”

She shrugged. “I… may or may not spend hours on end looking at your picture. And watch every encounter that you have with Ladybug.”

He cocked an eyebrow. “ _ Definitely _ not a celebrity crush.”

If it were possible, her face got even  _ redder _ . “Okay! I do. It started out just watching the fights with Ladybug and the akumas. But then, the  _ puns.  _ The puns made me start liking you. And then the fall from their was sorta inevitable.”

Cat Noir grinned. “The puns are my favorite, too.” Honestly, sometimes he liked it even more than the freedom of being a superhero.

Marinette grinned shyly. “So… if you couldn’t tell anyone about my crush, or secret love of puns, that’d be great.”

He cocked his head. “The things I keep learning about you that apparently no one else knows. Next thing I know, you’ll be telling me that you’re secretly Ladybug.”

Marinette froze up. Was she afraid that Cat  _ actually _ thought that? “Just kidding,” he said, letting her know that it was a joke. He started laughing.

She picked up a nervous laugh as well. “Yeah…  _ as if. _ ”

They settled into a bit of an awkward silence after that. Cat Noir sighed. He didn’t like this. “Since you confirmed that you have a crush on me, does that make it a confession?”

“No!” Marinette immediately blurted out. “I mean, yes. I mean… maybe?”

“It is,” Cat confirmed. “And I’ll accept it.”

She blinked at him. “Uh, what does that mean? I mean, that’s great and all, but… this is the first time that anyone has accepted my confession. Because you’re really the only one I’ve ever had a crush on and inadvertently confessed my love to.”

What  _ did  _ it mean? Cat Noir had never accepted any fangirls, and didn’t exactly know what it meant either. “Uhh… I must  _ confess _ that I don’t know, either.” Marinette giggled at the pun. “I guess it can mean whatever we want to.” He took a deep breath. Hopefully this wouldn’t come off weird. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, would you become my girlfriend?”

He was anticipating either an overjoyed acceptance or some kind of rejection. Not- “How do you know my last name?”

He stared at her for a moment and blinked. “You  _ do _ realize that you live right over your parent’s bakery, right?”

Marinette deflated. “Oh. Well, then, to answer your first question… I’d love to. I’ve had a crush on you for years. But… you just met me. Why do  _ you _ want to date  _ me? _ ”

Cat shrugged. “I don’t really have anyone in my civilian life that I’m really close to. And definitely not as a superhero. In these past couple of days, I’ve had more fun simply by talking to you than I have in a while.”

She took a deep breath and took a step towards him. Pushing herself up on her tiptoes, she placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

Cat Noir felt his cheeks color slightly.  _ And I’m developing a bit of a crush on you myself, _ he added mentally.

He took a deep breath. “Well, my  _ Princess, _ your knight in shining armor has to get back to protecting the rest of the town, now. But until then.” He swept down in a flourishing bow, then grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss it.

Cat Noir caught sight of Marinette’s face going pink again before he turned around and left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going from posting on an everyday-except-Sunday basis to everday-except-Sunday-that-I-also-have-access-to-WiFi. Though I haven't decided if I'll post more when I can post or not yet. See you Thursday or maybe Friday, if I decide not to post on the 4th of July.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More Marichat development.  
> Yeah that's... it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back!

“What happened over the weekend?” Alya asked once they met up at school on Monday. “On Friday you couldn’t keep a frown of you face, and now its upside down.”

As though Marinette could tell her friend. Not only did they agree last night to keep it a secret so that Marinette wouldn’t be targeted by Hawk Moth and Ladybug (not that she would be anyway, but Cat Noir didn’t know that), Alya specifically couldn’t know because… how exactly could Marinette explain to her that she was dating their sworn enemy? Without even trying to steal his miraculous?

“I’m… just in a good mood,” she excused. “It was a good weekend. Nice to be away from school.”

Alya stared at her. “Who are you and what have you done with Marinette? She may like the weekend, but absolutely  _ detests  _ Modays, especially in the morning.”

Marinette sighed, pushing Alya playfully. “Whatever. If you don’t like me being happy at this time, go make out with Nino or something.”

Her friend laughed. “Okay. So you aren’t  _ completely  _ different.”

As their conversation into an easy silence, Marinette considered it. She really hadn’t thought about not being able to tell Alya. Or her parents. This was going to be a lot harder than she thought.

* * *

For Adrien, the day seemed to both breeze by and take agonizingly long to pass by.

On one hand, remembering Marinette gave him something to think about, and not let himself be too weighed down by the slights throughout the day.

On the other hand… he couldn’t wait to see her. Last night, they had talked for over an hour, just asking basics about each other to get to know one another better. Favorite color, favorite food… basic stuff like that. And her side comments and humor was incredible. He couldn’t help it. Adrien was falling for her.  _ Fast. _

So every minute away from her was unbearable. But he was overjoyed that they were, well, essentially dating.

If only he could tell the world.

If only Adrien could trumpet his joy out to all who would hear.

But no. It had to remain a secret. Because she couldn’t be targeted by the supervillains of Paris. And he couldn’t reveal  _ his _ identity either. For much the same reasons.

Still, he wouldn’t trade this for the world.

* * *

It was a relief when nine o’clock came.

Cat Noir rushed through most of the Patrol. Luckily, it was quiet tonight. Petty crime had actually  _ died down _ since Hawk Moth began to plague Paris with akuma attacks, and those only happened about once a week.

Marinette was up on her balcony again, this time watching for him. He smirked. Why not give her a scare instead?

He bounded around to the wall at the back of her balcony, and then, silently as a cat (pun very much intended), he snuck up to right behind where she was anxiously looking for him.

“Good Evening, Princess.”

Marinette practically  _ yowled, _ swiveling around and batting him on the nose. “Bad kitty! Don’t sneak up on people like that.”

Cat leaned back, not bothering to even try hiding the Cheshire grin on his face. “‘Kitty?’”

She shrugged. “What? I can’t give  _ you _ a nickname too? Besides, when you’re acting out like a cat, it’s perfectly appropriate.”

He laughed at that. “Whatever you say. I am but a knight at my  _ Purr _ incess’s command.”

“Silly kitty. You’re ridiculous.” Then Marinette placed her hand on top of his head, patting his hair as if he were actually a cat. “But you’re  _ my _ kitty.”

Cat Noir purred. This felt good. “I think I can get used to the name.”

She smiled her  _ beautiful  _ smile at him, running her hand over his hair one last time before pulling it back. “I had something I wanted to tell you.”

Cutting off his protests of her stopping the petting, Cat tuned in to be interested in whatever his girlfriend was going to tell him. “What is it?”

She smiled shyly. “I’m doing the fashion contest. I just registered for it today.”

“That’s great!” His face broke out into a smile, full of genuine joy for her. “Do you have any ideas yet?”

Marinette’s face fell a bit at that. “Uh… no. It’s a bit nerve-wracking. I’ve never actually  _ made _ anything before, for one thing, so I need to keep it feasible. Not to mention I’ve never shown anyone besides you so much as my designs.”

Cat put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Hey. Don’t fret about it too much. There’s still a month left. Besides, I’ll be here to help you along every step of the way.”

She looked at his hand, considered it for a second, and then her eyes lit up. “Your glove!” she exclaimed.

“What?”

“The contest is for designing gloves,” she explained. “I figure I can model something off of your gloves. Obviously not exactly, but at least it gives me a starting point.”

She opened her door down into her room, went down, and came back up with her sketchbook. “Thank you so much for the idea, kitty!”

He chuckled at that. “It was all your own. I just happened to be wearing a convenient pair of gloves to inspire you.”

It didn’t reach her. Marinette was already lost in her work. “If I could do this… no  _ this _ … Yes… that’s great!”

It seemed that their time together tonight was over. “Well, if you’re going to work on your designs, I’m heading off.”

“And if I could just-hmm? Oh yes, goodbye.” She waved at him without even looking up.

That was one of the least attentive goodbyes he had ever been given. And considering how unattentive his father was, that was saying something.

That simply wouldn’t do. Cat Noir walked up to her, grabbed her hand, then kissed it. This grabbed her attention, and Marinette looked up. Just as she had done the previous two nights in response to that, she blushed.

And just as he had the previous two nights, Cat Noir left afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m back for... *checks calendar* two days. I may or may not be able to post when I leave again. So I’ll probably be (guilt) posting 2-3 chapters a day while I know that I can.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gloves. Akuma. Cat Noir learns something. And Angst. Kinda.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And here we will see the first of several large time skips. Because if it doesn't contribute directly to the story, I don't want to write it.  
> (Oh, yeah, that guilt posting thing isn't happening. I got too caught up in reading fanfic.)

The gloves were done.

After the better part of three weeks spent working on it, they were finally finished. And Marinette was surprised at how well they turned out.

Cat Noir blew out a low whistle. “Those really  _ did _ come out nice, Marinette. I wish my costume had those gloves.”

During the designing process, Marinette ultimately decided to keep them mostly true to their inspiration of Cat Noir’s gloves. So they were to be made out of black leather, a simple glove except for the cuff at the back to be fastened on with two silver clasps on each side. But they both agreed that it needed something to separate it from Cat Noir’s own glove, and after a few questions, he told her that when he transformed or detransformed, some green lightning surrounded him. Marinette was jealous for a moment, because that sounded  _ so _ much cooler than the pink bubbles that came up for her. Any way, she decided to incorporate that into the design by embroidering green lighting around the whole glove.

Cat Noir had offered to bring her the materials she needed, but Marinette refused his offer. Though she  _ did  _ let him help her decide exactly what leather and floss to use for the embroidery the day before she went out and bought it.

Once she had the materials, Cat did everything he could to help. Though Marinette insisted on doing all of the cutting and sewing for the gloves herself. She let him play with the leftover materials, and they always had good conversations while working on the project.

Marinette smiled at her boyfriend now, glad that their project was finished. “I know! It’s so exciting to have actually  _ done _ something with fashion.”

Cat Noir nodded, but he was tapping his foot, glancing nervously around. He was acting… restless in general.

She lowered the gloves. “Is something wrong, kitty?”

He almost jumped at that, before calming himself down. “No. Not really. I’m just feeling restless. Hawk Moth and Ladybug struck really early last week, so it feels like we’re due for an akuma attack any second. I just sorta wish I… had a schedule for when they would be, you know?”

If only he knew that Hawk Moth and Ladybug felt the same. They had lives too, after all. Absently, Marinette said, “I know that it’s not going to be Wednesday.”

Cat turned his undivided attention to her. “What?”   
Had she  _ really _ just said that? Marinette tried to shrug it off. “It’s just a… theory I have.” It was not a theory. It was very much a reasonable situation, that was  _ definitely _ planned. “So, you know how I’ve told you about my best friend, Alya? She’s been dating her boyfriend for the past four years, and coincidentally, every single day that they have a date planned, there’s  _ never _ been an akuma attack. Even on weeks where there’s an akuma nearly everyday, it’s never on the day their date is.”

He blinked. “Really?”

Well, except for the fact that Alya  _ was  _ Hawk Moth and very much  _ intentionally _ avoided any akumas that day, no matter how many negative emotions there were. But Marinette couldn't tell Cat that, so she just nodded instead.

The superhero of Paris rested his hand on his chin, considering that. "Well, Marinette, if you can keep me informed of when your best friend goes on any dates with her boyfriend, that'd be nice."

"I'll let you know when to anticipate a day off from your superhero duties as far as I know. For now, just be glad that you'll be able to relax in two days from now."

* * *

The next akuma attack was Tuesday. Of course it was. Adrien sighed. What was it about this time?

He watched the news for a moment longer to see if any helpful clues showed up.

Finally it got footage of the akuma. It dropped… was that a coin? And then vanished in a puff of smoke. The news didn't know a name for it yet, but it seemed to be someone frustrated with public transportation.

Okay. He could work with that information for now. “Plagg, claws out!”

* * *

Cat Noir was breathing heavily. An akuma that could quite literally  _ teleport _ was hard to keep up with. He  _ had _ determined that it needed to drop a coin to get away, and it seemed to need a coin in order to appear somewhere. He hadn’t come across Ladybug yet.

Cat Noir spun at the sound of footsteps coming from behind him in the subway station. Apparently, his luck of not meeting Ladybug so far had run out. She smirked at him.

“Same offer as always?” Before they actually fought, Ladybug always gave him the option to simply  _ give _ her his miraculous.

Cat scoffed. “Same answer as always, m’lady. You know that I’ll only try to give you some  _ other _ ring.”

Flirting kept fights from getting  _ too  _ serious. Still, since Cat Noir had started dating Marinette, he hated even doing _ that _ . 

She shrugged. "Always worth a shot. Then, back to the usual. Lucky Charm!"

Usually, Cat Noir dashed forward in an attempt to get the object Ladybug conjured, and they struggled in a fight to be the one to grab it. But just then, the akuma appeared next to them.

In his previous sightings of this akuma, Cat Noir had realized that it only ever had one coin at a time, and had to grab the one it came to in order to be able to disappear again.

So Cat rushed forward and grabbed  _ that  _ instead.

It took the two by surprise. Ladybug had been expecting the usual fight for the lucky charm, and the akuma was still adjusting to his new surroundings when Cat struck. It was fairly effortless, and before either could recover to deal with it, he backed away to a distance where neither of them could get to him easily.

After a minute, Cat realized as the shock wore off their faces, they were also  _ concerned,  _ or even  _ afraid. _

_ Of course, _ he thought.  _ The coin, whichever one it is at the moment, must be the akumatized object. _

Ladybug's lucky charm was a model train. Sometimes, they were literally just reminders or clues. The subways didn't stop running unless they were directly affected by an akuma, so when Cat Noir heard a train coming up, he tossed the coin onto the rail, where it was smashed before either supervillain could go after it.

The black butterfly came out of it, Cat called his Cataclysm and grabbed it, dissolving it.

He bowed towards Ladybug. "A pleasure, as always. Mind if I take your earrings?"

It was a bit of an unacknowledged rule between them that once an akuma was defeated, neither would actually fight the other. Or directly attempt to steal their Miraculous.

Ladybug shrugged. "Of course! Right after you give me yours, I take both Miraculouses to Hawk Moth, who makes their wish, and then I bring all three Miraculouses back to you."

Cat Noir shook his head.  _ Wish?  _ "I'll have to refuse your offer, I'm afraid. Guess that you'll have to  _ cat- _ ch me later."

He turned around and left to find a safe place to detransform. He'd have to ask Master Fu about that later.

* * *

Cat Noir was acting unusually distracted. He had been all night. And Marinette didn't think that she could take any more of it.

She took a deep breath. "What is it?"

_ That _ seemed to catch him off-guard. "Hmm?"

"Something is obviously bothering you. Tell me."

Cat sighed. "It's just… I know that it's silly, really. Something that Ladybug said after the fight."

So he paid attention? "What is it?"

"She…" he took a deep breath. "Let me back up. First of all, understand that I _ respect  _ Ladybug."

Marinette's head snapped up from her sketching at that. "Really?"

"Why? Do you have a problem with that?"

She hurriedly shook her head. "No, just…  _ why?" _

Cat Noir placed his head in his hand, considering the answer to the question. "Most people seem to see Ladybug as a purely evil villain. But really, they're forgetting that she started out as a hero, and then  _ something _ happened that made her team up with Hawk Moth. I've always wondered what, but… amidst all the fighting, there's never really been time to throw in that question along with all the punches."

Marinette nodded. "Go on with what you were saying before."

The edges of his mouth lifted a little. "Today, after the akuma was defeated, I gave Ladybug the ever-so-tempting offer of giving her Miraculous to  _ moi. _ "

She snorted and rolled her eyes. "I'm sure that  _ she  _ saw it that way."

"Exactly!" Cat agreed. "So, she refused-ridiculous, I know. But in that, she said something that probably has to do with why Hawk Moth is attacking in the first place. A wish."

Marinette knew what a wish was, directly from Alya, but considering that it was linked to her alter-ego and ally, she should play dumb. "A  _ wish? _ "

Cat Noir nodded. "I don't know what it is either. I think I need to ask the guardian."

This time, her confusion was genuine. "The  _ guardian? _ "

"Oh," he said, apparently just realizing that probably was confusing. "He's the one who gave Ladybug and I our Miraculouses, though we didn't know it at the time. Since then, I've met him when it was needed, as it was for a few akumas."

Marinette nodded. But this was far more concerning than she could let Cat know. He probably knew her identity. Since Cat Noir had evidently met him, it was a wonder that her identity remained secret anymore.

"Well, worrying about it won't help anything," she told him. That was her best way to dissuade him and… it was true. Worrying never  _ did _ help anything. "Anyway, thank you for telling me. Communication is important for a relationship."

As she said that, it made Marinette feel all the worse for everything she  _ couldn't _ say. She couldn't tell most of her family or friends about being Ladybug, Alya she couldn't tell about her boyfriend in addition to the others, and Cat she couldn't tell that he was her enemy. She was  _ sick  _ of all these lies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I'll see how often I can post next week. I'll be pretty busy, and probably won't have much access to WiFi, so I can only try my best.


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fashion contest. Marinette gets to meet Adrien.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like this was so long in coming. I’m glad to finally get to it. Though I’ve got to admit, it didn’t quite happen like I expected it to. It was one of those times the characters just decided they were doing their own thing.

“I can’t do this!” Marinette wailed to Cat Noir. It was Friday night, and the contest was tomorrow morning.

He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. “You’re just nervous because you’ve never done anything like this before. Don’t be.”

That didn’t make her feel any better, and it must’ve shown on her face, because he smiled at her comfortingly. “Remember what you told me Tuesday? Worrying about it won’t help anything.”

True. Marinette took a deep breath. “I wish you could go be with me there, though.”

Cat chuckled. “I wish I could, too. But that’s not how the whole _secret_ part of our relationship works.“ 

She sighed contentedly. “I know _why_ our relationship has to be secret, but I get tired of it.”

Cat sighed too. “I feel the same way about it, Princess. I’m dating this wonderful girl, and nobody else can know about it.”

“I guess it’s even worse for you,” Marinette said. “But I still haven’t even told my parents about my interest in fashion. I don’t know what to tell them so that I can leave for the contest.”

“The truth,” he suggested. “They seem very loving and caring. Supportive. Tell them that you’re interested in this, that you registered for the contest, show them the gloves you made, and I doubt that they’ll stop you.”

She put down her head. “I understand why you said that, but it makes me just as nervous as the contest…”

Suddenly, she felt Cat Noir’s arms wrap around her. It was almost instinctively that Marinette returned the embrace, pressing her face into his chest. They had been moving their relationship along slowly, and this was the first time they had hugged.

“Thank you,” she whispered into his chest. She wasn’t sure if he could hear, and she didn’t care. “Now I think I can make it through tomorrow.”

* * *

Adrien had been told well in advance that he was expected to be at the contest and help his father. It was probably grooming for him to take over the company.

But all he really wanted to do was see Marinette and support her.

So when his father told Adrien to go to the contestants and help them feel more at ease, he was _excited_. And there she was, the first person in the door. A baker’s daughter, definitely.

Adrien walked up to her. It was only six when they opened up for contestants to come in, but the contest didn’t start until eight. Since nobody else was here, Adrien didn’t have to worry about looking impartial by focusing on _her_. “Hello,” he greeted. He was supposed to sound _friendly_ , but he had to restrain himself from sounding familiar with her.

She grinned shyly, but it was obvious that she was still full of nerves. “Hello. Do you know where I’m supposed to go?”

“Of course! Right this way.” Adrien gestured for her to follow him and led her to the room where the pieces were to be displayed. It was hard to keep himself from touching her shoulder comfortingly or grabbing her hand. Sure, he _was_ her boyfriend, but _she_ didn’t know that.

Once there, at her spot, Marinette glanced at him uncertainly. “Umm… should you really be here while I set my stuff up?”

He shrugged. “I’m not going to be one of the judges. It doesn’t matter how impartial I may be to someone’s design.” Which was good, because he was already predisposed to choose hers, due to it being based off of him, freakishly cool, and made by his girlfriend.

As she started to set up, Adrien tried to talk to her again. “So, what’s your name? I’m Adrien.”

“Marinette.”

Was she _really_ going to be that way? All he was trying to do is be friendly. “Why won’t you talk much with me? I’m only trying to be nice.”

Marinette huffed and looked up at him, annoyed. “Look. It’s obvious that you like me.”

It was? Even when he was trying not to show it? Good thing he was trying.

“But I already have a boyfriend,” she continued. “So I’d _really_ appreciate it if you didn’t try to flirt with me.”

Adrien put his hand on the back of his head shyly. “Sorry.” It was true enough. “I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I just think that you're… pretty. And I’m a poor boy that can’t resist a pretty smile.”

The pretty part was something he had noticed about her right away, so he didn’t feel guilty about saying that in the least. But Marinette frowned and Adrien realized that he, in fact, had not seen her smile yet as himself.

She narrowed her eyes. “Something about you isn’t adding up. You’re acting positively… I don’t know, _smitten._ ”

That’s probably because he was. Fortunately for him, someone else came that he had to go help before their awkward conversation could continue.

* * *

Marinette breathed a sigh of relief.

Sure, the past two hours had been a bit nerve-wracking, but none of it had been as bad as when Adrien had been around her. She had seen him acting nice and animatedly with other people, only confirming that his awkward and suppressed behavior with admiration in his eyes _was_ his seriously in _like_ of her. By some benign force, he hadn’t had a chance to loop back around to talk to her, but maybe she should tell Cat to go scare him anyhow.

She _had_ taken Cat Noir’s advice from last night, about what to do with her parents. She had woken up at four(much to their surprise), and gone down and told them about _everything_ concerning fashion. Just like he had told her, they were very accepting. Although her dad _had_ been concerned about what to do with the bakery, if this was what she really wanted to do. No doubt, too, that Alya would have found out from them one way or another by the end of the day.

Now it was her turn to present. As terrifying as that was, the fact that Adrien seemed to be coming around giving words of encouragement afterwards was almost worse.

The woman in a black suit over a red turtleneck that also had a red streak in her otherwise black hair was the first to speak. “This will Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Gabriel.”

The presentation passed in a blur. After it, Marinette couldn’t tell you a single thing about it. She only snapped out of it when Adrien came up to her afterwards.

“Nice job,” he said, completely genuinely. He seemed to have given up on suppressing his actions. Which he should have done in the first place. Honestly, if he had, Marinette wouldn’t have caught on to his feelings. “You had pretty good presentation.”

Marinette looked at him, hopeful. He seemed much easier to talk to now, when he wasn’t acting so _strange_. “Do you really think so?”

Adrien nodded. “Absolutely. Most of these people might have decent skills, but can’t give a halfway decent defense of it. But you did both.”

Marinette bobbed her head. Oh, she hoped so. “How do you think I did?”

He gave her a sideways glance. “Don’t be mad at me for telling you my honest opinion.”

Marinette nodded. “Fine. I _am_ the one who asked.”

Adrien took a deep breath to start. “The prize is to be included in a Gabriel line. As awesome as your gloves look, they aren't… _refined_ enough for my father’s tastes. Sorry, Marinette, but you won’t win. Though, one of the judges, Angelique Couture, was interested in it, and she’s in charge of marketing to younger age groups and more practical lines.”

“So…?”

Adrien smiled at her sweetly. “You’ll probably get _something_ out of this that could go towards your future.”

Later, Marinette wouldn’t know what to be more surprised by: the fact that it actually happened, or the fact that Adrien guessed it exactly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally Marinette starts to trust people that aren't called Cat Noir.


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette talks to Cat Noir about Adrien, and to Alya about some of her secrets.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally get to the soulmate part.

Once Cat Noir got to Marinette's balcony that night, he was instantly caught in a bearhug from Marinette.

"Whoa!" His initial exclamation dies down quickly after the surprise was worn through, and he wrapped his arms around her. "I take it the contest went well, then?"

Marinette nodded her head, though it was difficult to tell when it was pressed against his chest. "Well, I didn't win it. But afterwards, one of the people in charge of a more… practical line approached me about working with them and using my gloves and helping them design. I accepted."

Cat smiled, pulling her back out at arm's length to look at her. "That's great."

Her adorably soft smile suddenly was replaced by a grown. "Oh. One more thing. Could you go intimidate someone for me?"

Cat Noir cocked his head. "Who?"

"Adrien Agreste was acting… weird. I don't know how to explain it, but he definitely likes me. He got better after I told him that I have a boyfriend, but still." Marinette looked at him. "Could you please scare him?"

He sighed. "As much as I'd love to be the jealous boyfriend and do that, I can't endanger you like that."

Marinette pouted. "As your civilian self, then."

This was such a bizarre conversation. Marinette was telling Adrien Agreste to go beat up… Adrien Agreste. "Violence isn't always the answer, Princess. Perhaps someday, when you know my secret identity, and we can date in public, I will gladly do that. But for now, just feel free to use the boyfriend card whenever you need to."

"Fine," Marinette reluctantly agreed.

* * *

Ever since Marinette had told her parents about her interest in fashion, she knew it was only a matter of time until Alya found out. Really, she should've been surprised it took this long for them to talk about it.

It all started Monday morning, when Alya was waiting for her  _ outside the school _ to talk.

"Pigtails," she said once Marinette reached her. "What's this I hear about you loving designing. And why have I never heard anything about it?"

Marinette grimaced. "To be fair, my parents didn't either until Saturday morning."

Alya gave her a flat stare. "So, why didn't you tell  _ anyone _ ? Sure, we all know how much your parents would love for you to take over the bakery, but they were and are totally willing to let you do what you want. As for all your friends, why  _ wouldn't  _ we support you with whatever you want to do?"

Marinette sighed. "I… I guess that I was worried. Self-conscious. It's stupid, I know, but… gosh. I just don't know."

Alya smiled at her. "It's fine. But remember that we love you, okay pigtails?"

She nodded. "Though, I  _ am  _ surprised you didn't bother me about this over the weekend."

Alya's face fell.

Marinette put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "What is it? Is something wrong?"

"Over the weekend… So, you know how my Mom's been feeling sick for a while? On Saturday, it got  _ really _ bad, so we took her to the hospital. We found out that she has cancer. But we can't afford the treatment, Marinette."

Marinette frowned along with her friend. "We could help…"

Alya shook her head. "No. It's way too much. Even if other people chipped in… it's too hard. I think we should recommit ourselves to getting Cat Noir's Miraculous so that I can use wish for my Mom."

"What about Nora?"

"She's  _ dead _ , Marinette." Alya said it with a bitter sound in her voice. "I've moved on sometime in the past five years. I'd rather keep my mother alive than revive someone who's been dead so long."

_ Then what have these past five years been for?  _ But Marinette didn't say it, though she couldn't help but hate it. The reason that she had been fighting the love of her life for so long was for nothing.

Rather than tell her friend any of this, she rubbed her back consolingly.

Alya wiped away her tears, and then turned back to her friend, smiling. "On a more positive note, I found out that Nino is my soulmate."

That wasn't surprising. They were a perfect match for each other. "What made you do  _ that _ with the weekend you had?"

Alya shrugged. "I was so distraught, and I was tired out moping around, so I figured, why not. And then I found out it was Nino, which only made it better."

Marinette nodded for her friend's sake. "C'mon. Let's go to class. Plus, you need to tell  _ him _ ."

* * *

Marinette got home and sat down at her desk.

She had thought about what Alya had done. It wasn't a bad idea. They  _ were _ eighteen. She just wasn't sure if  _ she _ wanted to do it.

Finally, Marinette took a deep breath and pulled up a Morse Code key on her desktop, and a notebook to wrote in.

She placed a hand on her neck to feel her pulse, and let it run through one time before she could bring herself to try to see what it decided to.

.-/-../.-./.././-./.-/--./.-././.../-/.

Marinette took a deep breath. She couldn't let herself hesitate any longer. She listened to the first beat sequence before a pause.

.-

Okay. That was  _ A. _

_ A. _

It wouldn't be Cat Noir.

Did she really want to find out?

Marinette took another deep breath. She had already decided to do this. She wouldn't back down now. She took her pencil and wrote  _ A  _ down in her notebook.

Once she was done, Marinette frowned at what she saw.

_ A D R I E N A G R E S T E _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh. I finished writing the fic, so now I know for certain that it is seventeen chapters.


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya learns something. (Not what you think.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I didn't have any time to post yesterday. Sorry, but there's two today.

"Marinette! You're here! And you've brought a friend!"

Marinette smiled at the woman she worked with. "Hello, Mrs. Couture. This is Alya, who I told you wanted to make sure that I was doing fine working here."

Alya seemed a bit apprehensive, not because she was concerned about Marinette, but she didn't know what  _ she _ should do.

Angelique pointed to a corner. "You can go over there, dearie. It will keep you out of the way, let you watch your friend, and you can play games on your phone or whatever you like."

Alya smiled. "Thanks… Mrs. Couture."

Marinette turned back to Angelique. "So, we finished the line for the gloves. I had some ideas about how we could advertise them…"

* * *

Adrien sighed. In relief. Surprisingly, he had nothing to do.

It was Wednesday. Adrien checked the time. It was after four in the afternoon. Marinette would be working right now. He could pop down to see her. He had done that before, in the six weeks since she started working there. Well, this was the seventh time she came in, since it was only once a week.

Adrien smiled, and headed down to Angelique's office.

He walked in to where the two were working. "Hello, Mrs. Couture." He turned to Marinette. "Hello, beautiful."

"Hello, stubborn idiot."

They had fallen into a routine of Adrien trying to flirt with Marinette and her consistently blowing him off. Usually, she would have mentioned something about her boyfriend in an attempt to scare him off. But then he caught her glancing back at a girl in the corner that was watching them intently. That must've been one of her friends. She wouldn't want them to know about her dating Cat Noir, so she wouldn't be saying anything about him today.

"Why do you keep rejecting me?" he complained.

Marinette sighed and put down the papers she was working with. "Can I talk to you for a second?" Then she turned to Angelique. "If that's alright with you, Mrs. Couture."

The lady nodded. "Oh, I'm perfectly fine with  _ that,  _ Marinette." She never tried to hide the fact that she wanted for them to get together, although very aware of Marinette already having a boyfriend.

She grabbed Adrien by the arm and dragged him out of sight.

Marinette turned on him. "Could you  _ please _ not mention my boyfriend today?"

He would be very willing to do that, but he couldn't let on why. "Why?"

She sighed. "That girl back in the corner was my friend, Alya. And she… doesn't _ know _ that I have a boyfriend."

Though Adrien perfectly knew and understood why, he could not be expected to. Oh, the things he did to keep his identity from being exposed, even if it  _ was _ his girlfriend. "Why doesn't she know?"

Marinette grimaced again. "I… there's a reason we're keeping it a secret, okay? Besides, at this point, she'd be freakishly mad that I've been dating someone for eleven weeks and she's only just found out."

He frowned. "Okay, but why shouldn't I tell her?"

"Can't you just be neutral and happen to not mention it?"

Adrien smirked. "But mentioning it would cause tension coming from your relationship with your boyfriend, and possibly come to me in comfort."

She bit her lip. "Uhh… fine. I won't complain about your flirting for the rest of the day."

"Not good enough." He rejected the idea. "In addition to that, you have to let me take you on  _ one _ date."

She sighed. "I'd have to ask my boyfriend, to make sure that it's okay with him. Could I get your number and text you later?"

"Fine," Adrien said grudgingly. "At least I'll get your phone number out of it." That was in reality enough for him, since he knew that  _ her boyfriend  _ would let her go on a date with him. But, yet again. Protecting his identity. "On the condition, of course, that should he  _ not _ agree, you'll give me a kiss."

Marinette's face fell into a downright  _ hostile  _ expression. " _ What?" _

"On the cheek," he quickly elaborated. "Platonic enough, right?"

Her face lightened up a tiny bit, but still skeptical. "Alright. C'mon, _lover boy_. I still have to work to do."

* * *

As they left at eight, Alya sidled up to Marinette's side. "So, Adrien, eh?"

She rolled her eyes. "What about him? He's not that great."

Alya gave an exasperated sigh. "Girl, he's a cutie. Not to mention quite obviously into you."

True and true. "I don't know. I just don't like him like that."

Her phone unhelpfully buzzed with a new notification just then. Marinette pulled it out. It was Adrien.

_ I was thinking seven on Friday for our date, if that's okay with you. _

Marinette turned it off as soon as she read it, but Alya had already read it.

Alya raised her eyebrows at her. "Ah. Yes. I see. You definitely don't like him that way. I'll put it on my schedule to avoid akumatizing anyone on Friday, as well."

Marinette stopped. "Good night, Alya. You're home. Go to bed, because you're obviously delusional from lack of sleep."

Alya pouted, but did as Marinette said.

Finally, she took a breath of relief. Finally finally  _ finally _ . She didn't have to worry about her best friend finding about her boyfriend now. If it meant she thought Marinette liked Adrien, so be it. And  _ that  _ had only been without her knowing that he was Marinette's soulmate.

Also, there was the pressure of what to do with Adrien. The prospects of repayment for the favor he did for her today, but also… she was starting to like him. Marinette wasn't about to betray Cat Noir, but… she hadn't at all disliked him as much as that first time she had met him. Since she had discovered that he was her soulmate. She had just realized it when he suggested a date and it wasn't totally appalling.

Marinette was glad once Cat Noir finally came around to drag her from her thoughts. She wouldn't tell him about her soulmate, like she hadn't at all yet, or her developing feelings for said soulmate.

Marinette got up and smiled at Cat. "Glad you're here. You wouldn't  _ believe _ the day that I've had."

He raised an eyebrow. "Mine was pretty chaotic, too."

There was an awkward pause in there conversation after that. They both hated how they could only talk about  _ her _ life, not his. He was the one who broke the silence. "Anyhow. What did you want to talk about?"

Marinette took a deep breath. "So, I've been at this job with Gabriel for a few weeks. Alya has still been skeptical that I'm doing fine, and last week I got permission for her to tag along today. I asked Adrien to not mention you, not that he knows  _ who _ you are, so that Alya didn't find out. Ultimately, I had to bribe him with a date. If that's okay with you, of course."

Cat Noir held up his hand. "So what you're saying is that you have to go on a date with another guy to protect our relationship?"

She nodded. "Well, if I don't, I have to give him a kiss. On the cheek, but still." 

He frowned. "I think I like the date of gratitude better than the kiss, myself. So when's the date?"

Marinette blinked. Yes, Cat  _ had _ said exactly why he accepted it, but it was still a surprise that he took it so easily. "Before I tell you, a friendly reminder that you're a hero of Paris and can't go be a jealous boyfriend and interrupt your girlfriend's date with another guy. Not to mention that it would expose that we are dating, which is the reason we got into this whole fiasco in the first place."

Cat smiled innocently. "Of course not! I would do it as my civilian self."

She glared at him. "Don't you dare."

He stared at her. "What? Don't you think you'll like me without the mask on?"

That wasn't it. In fact, she really  _ wanted _ to know who he was. But how could she manage to keep  _ that  _ secret from Alya as well. "I'm just concerned for you. Just because I haven't been akumatized yet doesn't mean that I won't be. Or I might let it slip or…" Marinette took a deep breath. "There are any number of things that could go wrong with that."

Cat smiled at her. She loved his smile. "Thanks for caring about me. Even when I was just kidding around. I just want to know when it is, so that I can do patrol and come by later if it's in the evening."

She beamed back at him. "That sounds wonderful. Let's see." She pulled out her phone to the text message. "Seven on Friday. It will definitely go into the evening."

Cat leaned over to read the text himself. "Was he really that confident that my answer would be yes?"

Marinette rolled her eyes. "Don't even get me started on it. I was walking home with Alya when I got it, and she read it over my shoulder, so she thinks I like him now."

He tilted his head, considering something. "That might not be so bad. If it keeps her blind to  _ our _ relationship."

"Whatever. Help me figure out how to respond that sounds polite enough, but not too encouraging."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Adrienette vibes coming right up!  
> Alya is a meddler. I make her a meddler literally ALL the time.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The date and afterwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I suck at writing dates. So this is afterwards, mostly.

"Whoa…"

Adrien grinned at Marinette. "Like it?"

She didn't even deign to look at him as she flatly responded, "The  _ setting _ , not you."

She was  _ definitely  _ going to be hard to win over.

But Adrien would try his best. He  _ would  _ win her heart from…  _ himself _ . Well, he had a romantic evening planned. Which may or may not have consisted of some things he learned from her as Cat Noir.

Watch out, Marinette.

* * *

Once Marinette got to her room, she fell to the ground. Her knees had been feeling weak all evening.

Stupid Adrien, knowing  _ exactly _ how to play to all her weaknesses. She was  _ trying  _ to be a good girlfriend, and stay totally faithful to the man she loved, even if she was starting to fall for the one she knew was her soulmate.

"So the date was  _ that _ good, huh?"

Marinette looked up, seeing Alya in her room already. She glared at her friend. "What are you doing here?"

She shrugged. "I figured that we could have a sleepover. In which I interrogate you about Adrien…"

Marinette sighed. It was ten-thirty already. She better go wait for Cat. "Fine. But let me have a chance to go get a breath of fresh air."

Alya grinned mischievously at her. "I see. Please, stop swooning so much, my friend."

Marinette kicked off her shoes and shakily climbed the ladder up to her bed and onto the balcony. Cat Noir was already there. She put a finger over her lips, signaling him to be quiet, finished climbing up, and close the trap door.

After she had walked up to him, Marinette whispered. "Alya invites herself over to hear all about the date," she explained.

He nodded. "So how was it?"

Marinette raised her voice for Alya's benefit. "I'll tell you tomorrow when. Alya's not here." Besides, that would give her time to dull it down and not show that she was seriously falling for Adrien.

"Who are you talking to?" Alya's voice traveled through the trap door.

"Tikki wanted to know about the date."

When Cat gave her a confused look, she explained, "The ladybug that I talk to. Remember?"

Cat Noir nodded again. 

"You should probably leave now, and I'll deal with Alya." Marinette went on her tiptoes and pecked him on the cheek.

He gave a sharp intake of breath. She didn't kiss his cheek nearly as often as he kissed her hand, and he hadn't yet recovered from his reaction after she did so.

Cat grabbed her hand and pulled it up to a kiss. "Of course, Princess."

He then backed away and vaulted himself off the balcony.

Marinette sighed dreamily, relishing her heart fluttering in a  _ good _ way for a few seconds before she made herself recover and go back down to Alya.

Alya wasted no time in pouncing on her. "So? Did you love it?"

Marinette frowned. "I'd be lying if I said that I hated it, or  _ him. _ "

"But…?"

Alya knew her too well. "But I'm unsure. He probably  _ hates  _ Ladybug. Just like the rest of the city." Except Cat Noir. Even though they were enemies, for some reason he wasn't totally biased against her.

Alya got an evil glint in her eyes that Marinette didn't like. "Then what if he got to know Ladybug?"

* * *

Cat Noir jumped in through the open window to his room. "Claws in."

The transformation dropped, and Adrien fell and sighed dreamily on his bed. "She kissed my cheek."

Plagg floated up to near his head. "So? She's done that before."

"Plagg. It's  _ romantic. _ She doesn't do that often, and I love every time that she does. That date and on her balcony afterwards… that girl  _ has  _ to be my soulmate."

Plagg rolled his eyes. "You're such a sap. So. Is she?"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is how you feel."

But what the kwami had said stood out to Adrien.  _ Was _ she? For real? Once, in the lonely days of his childhood, he had decoded his heartbeat to see who his soulmate was. A name that he had long since forgotten. He knew he still had the notebook with it in it around here somewhere.

_ Should _ Adrien check it…?

No. It was late. Besides, he already knew who his soulmate was. She was already in his heart.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry. Kinda short. And not really contributing to the plot.  
> But this is fluff, which I love, and this won't c probably needs a bit of.


	11. Chapter 11

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ladybug and Adrien meet because Hawk Moth is a hardcore shipper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Some plot development!

"Are you sure that this is going to work?" Ladybug asked Hawk Moth. "I mean, who knows how long it will be until Cat Noir realized that we have a hostage and come to try to free him?"

Hawk Moth sighed on the other side. "He's always concerned for the well-being of the citizens. Of  _ course _ he'll come." Then her voice lightened up. "In the meantime, you can get to know  _ Adrien  _ better. Make him realize just  _ how  _ great Ladybug is."

Ladybug sighed. "I already  _ told  _ you what I think. Stop trying to meddle in my love life."

"What was that? I couldn't hear you. The connection must be broken. Bye Ladybug!" Hawk Moth hung up.

Ladybug pulled the yoyo back from her ear and glared at it. "The connection is magical. It _can't_ be broken!"

She sighed and put it away, looking around the top of the Eiffel tower. It was only them, the akuma attack having scared off regular tourists and citizens.

Adrien looked at her passively, though apparently a piqued interest, from the tendrils of the akuma Fangirl.

Ladybug was generally mad at the world, so she took it out on him.  _ "What?" _

He looked away. "I was just wondering. A supervillain has a love life?"

Yes. One that he was caught in the thick of. She sighed, letting her anger seap away. "I know Hawk Moth in real life. Anyway, they think that I like you. Which I do to a certain degree, I suppose. But since I can't stand it when, in the past, guys who I've gone on dates with have hated Ladybug. So they decided to do this, so that I can show you that I'm a real person, too. I'm not totally despicable."

He frowned. "Uhh… why do you continue to help terrorize Paris, then?"

Ladybug blinked. He hadn't challenged that she wasn't a totally despicable person like she expected him to. He  _ really _ was doing nothing to help the "Don't Fall for Adrien Agreste" Campaign. Which had only started on and had been struggling ever since Wednesday. But still.

"I… Do you mind if I tell you why I started being a supervillain rather than a superhero?"

Adrien nodded. Ladybug's stomach flipped. He  _ still  _ wasn't helping.

"After that first and only time Cat Noir and I fought one of Hawk Moth's akumas, Hawk Moth figured out who  _ I _ was. They revealed that they wanted the Ladybug and Cat Noir Miraculouses to make a Wish, which they would use to… help someone very important to them. I agreed."

At the word  _ Wish _ Adrien gasped. His face continued to look astonished after she finished.

"What is it?" Ladybug asked.

"Nothing!" he quickly excused. "Just… that's an amazingly interesting story, is all. Especially Hawk Moth."

Ladybug rolled her eyes. "Oh, don't get me started. All the things they've done…"

* * *

"... And then Hawk Moth said to me, 'Pigtails, you realize that you're wearing that  _ backwards _ , right?'"

They both burst into laughter.

"How many more stories like that do you have with Hawk Moth?" Adrien asked.

Ladybug still had a grin of laughter spread across her face. "Oh, this is still the first year since we met each other. And the four years after that don't get any less crazy- or hilarious."

He was probably grinning like a maniac as well. "And you've been telling me them for  _ how _ long?"

She pulled out her yoyo and opened it. "It is… nearly noon. So it’s been four hours.” She frowned. “Cat Noir  _ still _ hasn’t shown up yet.”

Adrien should probably figure out a way to escape so that he could come and defeat the akuma. Even if it  _ was _ difficult, being wrapped in the tendrils of the akuma.

But Ladybug pulled her phone to her ear first. “Hawk Moth. It’s been four hours. I don’t think that Cat Noir is going to show up. Recall the akuma…. Huh? Ugh, yes. Why do you  _ think _ it took me this long to realize…? Just shut up and take care of the akuma. I have other things I want to do today, too.”

She shut her yoyo, and looked at Adrien as the tendrils encasing him turned into one pair of arms and another pair of legs, one hand clasping a picture of himself. He watched in astonishment as a black butterfly flew out of that picture and Ladybug snatched it up in her yoyo, releasing it in its original white form. It was such a shock. That she’d  _ do  _ that, first of all, besides those two first times that he knew of. And the way of doing it, when he was used to watching the akumas dissolve from his Cataclysm.

It must have shown on his face, as well, because Ladybug smirked when she saw his expression. “What? I  _ told _ you that I’m not a  _ completely  _ despicable person.”

Adrien shook his head. “I didn’t mean to make you believe that I couldn’t believe that you did it. Just…  _ why _ did you do it?”

She shrugged. “I live in Paris, too. I don’t like it being in constant chaos. My method of doing it just aligns differently than everyone else’s. And you shouldn’t complain, unless you want  _ all _ of your fangirls chasing you around like that.”

No. No he most certainly did  _ not _ want that.

Just then, the akumatized fangirl seemed to come out of her daze, because she crawled back from him then. “Sorry! I was akumatized, wasn’t I? Just like my mom always tells me, I let my emotions go haywire. Sorry! Where’s Cat Noir?”

Ladybug sighed and looked at the girl. “Nobody really notices it, but about half the akumas just get what they want and ignore Hawk Moth after that. They don’t draw attention to themselves, so Hawk Moth just releases the akuma and I purify it. Don’t feel bad. You really didn’t cause any trouble. Except to Adrien, maybe. I’m willing to take both of you home, if you need it.”

The girl accepted, but Adrien told them he could take care of himself. Once Ladybug picked the girl up, Adrien probably stood there for a moment, just marveling. The side of Ladybug that he saw today… that was like the Ladybug he first met. Nice, friendly, maybe a little clumsy, but… a superhero, not a supervillain.

Adrien shook his head. “They’re gone, Plagg. Claws out!”

He dropped into his room, and detransformed. Plagg came out. “So you transformed even though you didn’t need to in order to defeat the akuma. You better have a lot of Camembert to make up for that.”

Adrien shrugged. “You know where the stash is.”

The kwami zipped off to feast on cheese.

Adrien still couldn’t get his mind off of Ladybug. He now knew more about her than ever before. She had told him  _ why _ she became the supervillain that she now was.

He needed to write this all down. If Adrien could ever defeat her, keeping track of everything that he knew about her would help.

He went up to his desk, grabbing the notebook on top of it. Adrien flipped through it, looking for a blank page to write on. It was full.

Well, Adrien didn’t have any new notebooks, but… there might be a page that he skipped over in old ones. He pulled them out.

Full. Full. Full. When he got to the fourth one, he stopped when he came to a page that said  _ Soulmate _ at the top. Adrien paused, reading it almost without trying.

> _ Today, I had a lot of “free time.” That’s what it’s called when my parents are too busy to pay attention to me, and I’m just shut in my room instead. _
> 
> _ I’ve gotten too good at all the video games and foosball and everything else that I have in here, so I decided to do something else. _
> 
> _ Mother told me a while ago that the reason our heartbeat always has the same pattern is because it is a code for our soulmate’s name. I don’t think that I’m going to meet mine any time soon, or have any idea who it is, but I looked it up today. _
> 
> _ My heartbeat has the constant pattern of .-../.-/-../-.--/-.../..-/--. _
> 
> _ I looked up what it is. “Ladybug.” Guess that would just mean I’m one lucky guy. Or will be. _

Adrien stared at it. And blinked. He had long since forgotten it, because his life got very busy after that, when he started Chinese, fencing, and piano lessons. Literally half his lifetime ago.

He could understand why his nine-year-old self was confused with what his heartbeat said and thought it just meant that he was lucky. But eighteen-year-old Adrien knew better. He had met someone named Ladybug.

Adrien knew that it meant he was soulmates with his Enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love the agony of this reverse love square.  
> *Laughs maniacally in the background*


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Identity shenanigans.  
> Marinette learns something important.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post Friday or Saturday. I forgot...  
> On the bright side, since I'm done writing it, I'm posting the rest of it today!

Ladybug scowled once she got to the top of the Eiffel tower. Hawk Moth just simply  _ had  _ to do the same akuma again.

What was this? A repetitive TV show? Same time, same place, same plot?

Because there was the  _ same _ sight. Adrien Agreste wrapped up in the tendrils of the Fangirl akuma.

“You know what?” she told Adrien, who was looking  _ very  _ perturbed about this happening again. “I don’t think that Cat Noir is going to show up today, either. And I doubt that Hawk Moth is going to be any  _ more _ reasonable than last week.”

Ladybug walked up to the tangled pair. She started to pull one of the tentacles off of him, but Fangirl actually opened its eyes and started  _ screeching  _ at her. She quickly let go and let it wrap itself around him again.

“Okay. So, if  _ that’s _ not going to work… Lucky Charm!” 

Ladybug threw her yoyo up into the air and down came a full-size Adrien cut-out. Ladybug blinked. “It’s strange not needing to fight Cat Noir over my Lucky Charm. Here. Let’s just replace you with… you. Okay?”

Adrien nodded and cooperated, that same, upset expression on his face. This way, they managed to extricate him from the akuma’s tendrils without incident.

She turned back to him. “You can go now. I’ll just stay here until… I can convince Hawk Moth to call off the akuma, I guess.”

Adrien headed over to the elevator. Ladybug had no idea  _ why _ he wasn’t talking, but she couldn’t do anything about it. She shouldn’t  _ care  _ so much. She loved Cat Noir, not him…  _ right _ ?

Just before the doors of the elevator closed, Adrien said, “Thank you.”

That left her heart spinning in a way that Ladybug didn’t want it to.

She turned and waited for her transformation to wear out. As long as nobody besides the akuma was up here, she should be fine. Ladybug had two minutes left when she heard the elevator ding, signaling someone was about to come out. She turned and saw… Cat Noir walk out.

Well. He actually showed up today. And she was on a timer.

Ladybug made a quick decision, and dove past Cat Noir into the elevator right before the doors closed.

Inside, empty, she finally let out her breath. “Spots off.”

* * *

As the elevator doors closed after Adrien thanked Ladybug, he grimaced. What had he been  _ thinking? _

Since discovering last week that Ladybug was supposed to be his soulmate, he couldn’t ever truly get her off of his mind. He decided not to tell Marinette, because he still loved her and wanted to keep this relationship.

But… Adrien couldn’t get every  _ good  _ thing about Ladybug out of his head. Especially the fact that she truly believed that she was doing the right thing. He still  _ really  _ needed to ask Master Fu about that Wish.

He took a deep breath. Adrien probably  _ shouldn’t _ just let that akuma be loose. True, it hadn’t caused any harm last week, but it was one thing when he didn’t really have any choice or didn’t know about it. “Plagg! Claws out!”

Cat Noir pressed the button to go to the top floor. Ladybug would only have a couple of minutes left at this point. Maybe he could learn her identity(which he now felt like he wanted to know for reasons other than trying to take her Miraculous away from her more easily), or at least force her away from the fight sooner.

The elevator  _ dinged _ , and Cat Noir walked out. Ladybug turned around, and he could tangibly  _ see _ the panic set into her face.

What he had  _ not  _ been expecting or prepared for was when Ladybug ran past him and  _ dove _ into the elevator. The doors closed right behind her, too, so he couldn’t follow her in.

Despite pressing the button rapidly, it took a couple of minutes for it to come back up.

The doors opened again to reveal… “Marinette?”

“Hey, Kitty.” Marinette smiled shyly at him. “What are you doing here?”

“There’s an akuma attack,” Cat explained.

She nodded. “Oh.  _ That _ would explain why no one else was here.”

He frowned. “Did you see Ladybug in the elevator, or pass you on the way on it? Or anyone else, for that matter?”

“I just told you that there was no one else here,” Marinette told him with a flat look. “I didn’t see Ladybug or her secret identity.”

Cat rolled his eyes. It was nice to simply banter with his girlfriend. “So. I think it would be best for you to get home. The akuma isn’t doing anything dangerous at the moment, but do you want me to take you back to your balcony?”

She shrugged. “Sure.”

He picked her up in his arms. And then thought of the perfect thing to say. “Princess-style.”

Marinette shook her head as she laughed at that. “Silly kitty.” She quickly kissed his cheek before tucking her head up against his chest. “But you’re  _ my _ silly kitty.”

Cat Noir blushed. “You might want to get into a… not-so-intimate position. I’m not sure what Hawk Moth and Ladybug will be able to see, or the public at large.”

She pouted, but pulled herself away from him a bit. “Promise me we’ll snuggle tonight.”

“I promise.”

And they were off. It didn’t take long for them to get back to her balcony. He set her down, and they stood a few feet apart.

Cat Noir gave Marinette a deep bow. “Until I see you again.” He glanced around, to make sure that no one could see them, then added, “Princess.” Cat kissed the back of her hand and went back to the Eiffel tower.

It would probably be easiest to deal with it before Ladybug got back. It was holding a darkened piece of paper again, probably another picture of him. Cat Noir took it and ripped it in half.

“Cataclysm!” he said and destroyed the akuma before it could fly out of reach.

“Looks like I missed the fight,” a voice behind him said. Cat Noir didn’t need to turn around to know that it was Ladybug, but he did so anyway. She held out a hand. “Give me?”

Cat couldn’t resist the pun. After having learned what the two supervillains of Paris wanted, he thought of it, and the opportunity to use it was too tempting, even if he didn’t intend to fulfill it. “As you  _ Wish. _ ”

Then he took the life-size cut-out of himself and threw it towards Ladybug. “Do your thing, LB. Cat out.”

* * *

“Ah, Adrien. Come right in.”

Master Fu and Adrien both went to their knees in his house around his mat.

“What is it?” Master Fu asked.

Adrien took a deep breath and looked at him in the eye. “What’s a Wish, Master?”

The older man sharply inhaled. “Of course. That is something very, very dangerous.”

* * *

Marinette sighed.

She was up on her balcony overlooking the street. Sweet Cat with his silly puns that she couldn’t resist. But that last one, though… even though it was to Ladybug, she couldn’t get over it. Marinette wanted to relish it as her own.

Where  _ was _ Cat Noir, anyway? He was running late. Usually he was there at least fifteen minutes after he started patrol, which Marinette took to be at about nine. But it was half-past the hour and  _ still _ no sign of him.

She heard a soft landing behind her. Scratch that.

Marinette whirled around, smiling broadly, genuinely happy to see him. “Hey Kitty. Glad you could make it. What took so long?”

Cat grinned at her sheepishly. “Sorry. I was… preoccupied.”

She frowned. “How so?”

“You remember how a couple of months ago I told you about Ladybug saying something about a Wish?”

She nodded.

“I asked the guardian about it today.” He grimaced. “I need to tell Ladybug and Hawk Moth what the wish will do. It’s not good.”

Marinette tilted her head, curious. “Can you tell me?”

Cat Noir took a deep breath. “Just like the name implies, the Wish will give you one thing you want- by taking it away from someone else.” He looked up and met her eyes. “So if you let someone dead come back to life, someone else would die.”

Marinette didn’t know how she lasted until she got Cat Noir off of her balcony. She didn’t know what to do.

She only knew that Alya had to know.  _ They _ had to stop. Now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun DUUUUUUUUUNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!  
> It is almost beginning to come together... right?  
> hehehheheheh


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette tries to confront Alya.  
> Cat Noir doesn't talk to Ladybug.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This important chapter is short, because I apparently am terrible at doing angst.  
> Because that's definitely what this chapter is.

Marinette knew that she couldn’t wait until Monday to talk to Alya. So early Sunday morning, she got up, got dressed, and headed over to her friend’s house.

She rapidly knocked on the door, and by some stroke of luck it was  _ Alya _ who answered, not one of the eleven-year-old twins.

“Wha…?” Alya was still in her pajamas and looking very tired and confused about why Marinette was there, especially so early.

Marinette grabbed Alya’s wrist. “We need to talk.”

Without skipping a beat, she stepped into the Cesaire household and dragged Alya back to her room, where she closed and locked the door.

Alya shook her head in an attempt to shake the grogginess off. “Marinette. What are you doing here so early? If this is a dream, it’s not very realistic.”

Marinette sighed. “No. It’s not a dream, and I need to talk to you. You can’t make that Wish.”

Alya frowned. “What do you mean?”

Marinette took a deep breath. “I  _ mean _ that I found out something about it. Whatever you Wish for will take that away from someone else.”

Alya seemed skeptical. “Where did you hear about this?”

Marinette froze. She couldn’t exactly tell her friend that it was from Cat Noir, who learned it from the guardian. “Why would I tell you this if I didn’t think it was true? I know how much you care for your mother and sister.”

Honestly, it _ stung _ that her friend thought she might be lying.

“Even giving you the benefit of the doubt that it is true,” Alya ventured, “I don’t care. So what if someone  _ else _ loses their mother because of it? It doesn’t matter to me.”

She was a  _ monster. _ The lack of trust was almost nothing compared to this selfishness. This lack of empathy. Dare she say… this lack of  _ humanity? _

“I’m not lessening my resolve,” Alya continued. “Are you?”

“... No.”

“Good.”

There was no easily foreseeable way out of this. Marinette’s last hope was that Cat Noir would be willing to work with her.

* * *

“Adrien, Mr. Chan will be substituting for your Chinese lessons again today,” Nathalie said.

Adrien looked up to see Nathalie holding the door to his bedroom open as Master Fu walked in. He had sometimes in the past come in to talk to him about something important as well as help him on his Chinese.

After Nathalie left, Adrien frowned. “Is something wrong, Master Fu?”

He shook his head. “Everything is fine. I really  _ am _ just here as a substitute today.”

“Oh.” Adrien considered it for a second, and then continued. “I’m going to tell Ladybug about the Wish.”

Master Fu sharply looked up. “Don’t.”   
“What?”

“It won’t do any good,” Master Fu explained. “If knowing the consequences of the Wish were going to deter Hawk Moth and Ladybug, they would not be putting the city in perils they are. Do not tell them. It may not even be a negative at all in their eyes.”

Although Adrien ultimately agreed and they proceeded with the lesson, he couldn’t help but feel troubled. Especially since he couldn’t get it out of his head that Ladybug cared about the city.

* * *

It wasn’t until Wednesday that there was another Akuma attack.

Ladybug transformed, of course. She still immediately went looking for Cat Noir. But this time, she looked  _ away  _ from the akuma. She didn’t want it to seem like a trap, or be caught in a fight and be unable to talk to him.

_ There he is. _ Ladybug stopped and cupped her hands around her mouth. “Cat Noir!”

He paused and pivoted on his heels to look at her.

“Can we talk?” she continued.

Cat Noir hesitated for a second, looking uncertain. Then he curtly shook his head. “No. I… I can’t trust you. I’m sorry.”

He left then, presumably towards the akuma.

Ladybug just stood there, shocked.  _ He’ll never accept me as Ladybug,  _ she thought.  _ I need him, but I can’t let him know who I am. I… can’t stay with him much longer. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And everything REALLY starts to crumble...


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> No spoilers... It's just the end arc, really.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my head, I was going to wrap up the story in this chapter. But then it started to get long, so guess what? It turned into THREE.

Alya rapped her knuckles against the door to where Marinette worked every Wednesday. She  _ should _ be here.

What had Marinette been  _ thinking? _ Not fighting against Cat Noir at  _ all? _ Why would she do that? DId it have anything to do with Sunday?

Alya took a deep breath and let it out slowly. No point in worrying about it  _ now. _ She would find out when she could talk to Marinette.

The door opened. It was the woman in charge of the office. “Hello, Mrs.-” Alya wracked her brain for the name. “-Couture. Can I talk to Marinette?”

The woman smiled sweetly at her. “Sorry, but I’m afraid that she’s not in right now. She and Adrien left after the akuma attack and haven’t been back since.”

Alya frowned. “She left… with Adrien?”

Mrs. Couture nodded. “Honestly, I’d wonder what they’re up to always disappearing during the akuma attacks like that, if it weren’t for Marinette’s unwavering devotion to her boyfriend.”

Alya looked up sharply. “Boyfriend?”

“Yes. Even though it’s obvious she likes Adrien, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re soulmates, she always rejects him because she already has a boyfriend.”

She took a deep breath. “Well, thank you, Mrs. Couture. I need to leave now.”

* * *

_ “It’s Marinette! Leave a message! Bee-” _

Alya pulled her phone away from her ear and hung up. Marinette had ignored all the texts she sent her and the calls kept going to voicemail.

Alya checked the time. Eight-thirty wasn’t that late. Alya got up and left her room, checking into her mom’s before. She was awake, so she went up to her bed. “Hey Mom, you doing okay?”

She smiled at her daughter. “As good as can be expected. How’re the twins?”

“Still out at their friend’s.”

Her Mom nodded. “And how are  _ you _ , my butterfly girl? Still carefree as always?”

Alya laughed, even though,  _ really, _ she wasn’t. She hadn’t been carefree ever since Nora died. And even less since these last two months since her mom had been diagnosed with cancer.

Mom had always called Alya her butterfly girl. Which made it all too perfect and fitting when she found the butterfly Miraculous, and Nooroo told her about the Wish that could be made with the Ladybug and Cat Noir Miraculouses.

Alya settled into a smile. She really loved her mom. She would do  _ anything _ for her, even if that meant she would be the one who would take on the cancer if what Marinette had said about the Wish was true.

“I’m going out to go see Marinette,” Alya told her mom. “Then I’ll pick up the Ella and Etta on my way back home. You okay taking care of yourself for half an hour?”

Her mom nodded. Alya kissed her head. “Bye.”

Once she got outside and down to the street, Alya yawned and stretched. It felt nice to be outside, rather than shut up in her room.

Alya’s mother was great, sweet, and amazing, even without mentioning her cooking. How could Marinette dare suggest that they give up?

Alya took a deep breath, recollecting her cool. Marinette wasn’t as close to Alya’s mom as she was. It wasn’t  _ her _ Wish at stake, and she only helped Alya as Ladybug because she saw that as the easier solution to make everyone happy and keep the Paris that she loved safe. If she had heard something that she thought would jeopardize one part of that, and had some reason to believe it, of  _ course _ she would want to prioritize.

Alya was almost to her house. She looked over and saw Adrien on the street, looking up at Marinette’s balcony.

Alya thought about what the woman had said earlier about them obviously liking each other, and probably being soulmates. Even though they were having some sort of problem with communicating at the moment didn’t mean that they wouldn’t get through it with their friendship stronger for it, so Alya decided to be a wing woman.

She lifted her hands to her mouth and was about to call out to Adrien when he was suddenly encased in green light and electrical sparks coming out around him like lightning. Once that vanished, he was replaced by Cat Noir.

If Adrien was Cat Noir, then… Marinette was falling for the guy she fought on a regular basis.

Alya followed with her eyes as the superhero used his baton to launch himself up to the balcony. Marinette was up there, which Alya hadn’t noticed earlier, slouched over the railing. She turned around, saw Cat Noir, and pulled him into an embrace, pressing her face against his chest.

Not only was Marinette falling for Cat Noir’s civilian identity, she was dating his superhero one.

* * *

Adrien paced around his room.

Why hadn’t Ladybug shown up to the fight? He was only trying to follow what Master Fu had told him, which was a legitimately reasonable response to the situation. But he couldn’t help but feel it was a mistake.

Sure, that might be his feelings for Ladybug as his soulmate peaking out, but still. She would probably have  _ wanted _ to know.

Adrien was going stir-crazy. He couldn’t  _ wait _ half-an-hour before he went on patrol. But he didn’t think he could stand to be Cat Noir right now, either. The superhero side of him felt too guilty for refusing to listen to Ladybug.

He took a deep breath. Maybe getting outside and taking a walk would help him.

“Claws out!” Cat Noir opened the window and got to the street right outside the gate to the Agreste Mansion. “Claws in.”

Not really considering the decision, Adrien headed towards where Marinette lived.

Really, all he did was try to weigh whether he  _ should _ have told Ladybug or not, despite Master Fu’s warning. Hawk Moth was less of a concern, since it seemed evident that  _ they _ didn’t care much for the safety of Paris in the slightest, and Master Fu’s point was certainly true for  _ them. _

But Ladybug… she always put everything back with her Miraculous Ladybug. She even deevilized the butterfly for that one akuma he hadn’t shown up as Cat Noir to fight. She even professed to his civilian self, who she had no reason to trick or impress, that all she really cared about was Paris.

Adrien stopped when he recognized the Dupain-Cheng bakery coming up ahead. He looked up to the balcony. There was Marinette, hunched over her railing, crying. He  _ had _ to go up and comfort her.

Without really thinking much about it, Adrien said, “Plagg, claws out.” The transformation was silent.

A transformed Cat Noir extended his baton in order to launch himself up onto the balcony behind her. His landing was soft, but not so quiet that Marinette wouldn’t usually turn around. Which only proved just  _ how  _ lost she was in her own tears.

He walked up behind her. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Marinette turned to him, eyes full of tears, and without pausing, wrapped her arms around his torso and pressing her face against his chest. Cat tensed at first from shock, and then relaxed, returning the embrace and rubbing her back.

“There, there…” he comforted, whispering general words of comfort until she calmed down.

Finally, she stopped crying, though she was still clearly upset. Cat Noir lessened his grip on her, though still firm enough to hold her up, since she didn’t seem to be supporting her own weight.

“Do you want to tell me what’s wrong?” he asked.

Marinette mumbled something against his chest.

Cat sighed. “If you want me to hear you, you’re going to have to not speak directly into me like that. I use my  _ ears _ to hear, not my abs.”

Marinette came up away from him. “I don’t think we can keep dating,” she repeated.

He frowned. “Whyever not?”

She opened her mouth, then closed it, hesitated, and finally opened it again to speak. “Marry me.”

_ “What?!”  _ Cat Noir’s reaction was one of genuine surprise.

“Nevermind.” Marinette huddled back into herself. “I don’t know what I was saying. I-”

“No no no,” he stopped her. “It was just so sudden, that’s all.”

Cat Noir took a breath and went down to one knee, taking Marinette’s hand and gripping it. “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, will you marry me?”

She bit her lip and looked away. “No. I love you, Kitty, but I can’t.”

He got back up onto his feet. “You’re all over the place tonight. What is it?”

Marinette took a deep breath and looked away. “There’s something I need to tell you…”

He waited.

“There’s one secret that I’d never be able to tell  _ you,  _ even if it weren’t for our relationship,” she continued. “And… one more thing. I found out who my soulmate was a couple of months ago. It’s not you, and I’ve been spending time around that boy, and since I learned that he was my soulmate, I’ve slowly started falling for him.”

Cat Noir couldn’t help himself. He laughed at that.

Marinette frowned. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you here, Cat Noir! Stop laughing!”

He slowly made himself die down. “Sorry… it’s just funny. The same thing happened to me. Closer to two and a half weeks ago instead of two months, but still.”

“So, do you understand why I need to break up with you?” Marinette said. “It’s not fair to you- or the other boy- to be in a relationship with only half of my heart in it anymore.”

Cat tried to blink away the tears forming in his eyes. He  _ did _ understand, but he had also been selfish. He still wanted to be with her.

He took a shaky breath. “Farewell then, Marinette. You’ll always be my Princess.” With a flourish, Cat Noir bowed and brought her hand to his lips in one last kiss before he left for good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter took so long to write. I never realized how hard it could be to write bittersweet scenes. So it was about three days, and I was so glad to get past this part.


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alya talks to Marinette.  
> Ladybug and Cat Noir finally talk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You thought the last chapter was bad?  
> It got worse.

Marinette was still feeling very upset over last night. She really did  _ not  _ want to go to school.

Once her mom coaxed her out of bed- though still unaware why her daughter was so heartbroken- she trodded along unhappily to get ready and go to school.

The past week was  _ terrible. _ She felt deeply mired into a hole. No, a  _ pit. _

First, she discovered that her cause was wrong. Then, that Alya was unwilling to let go and change. Felt betrayed by Cat Noir. And finally realized that they couldn’t be together anymore.

What she didn’t expect, however, was for it to get worse.

Alya walked up to her in her downtrodden state. Marinette stopped and looked up. Her friend looked  _ angry. _

“Why didn’t you tell me that you were dating Cat Noir?” she demanded.

She had somehow found out. Out of every person in the world, Alya was the last on the list Marinette would have wanted to learn about them.

Alya continued before Marinette had a chance to defend herself. “Is  _ that _ why you refused to fight him yesterday?” she asked. “At least if I thought you just liked Adrien, I couldn’t  _ blame _ you for liking our sworn enemy when you didn’t know his secret identity.”

Wait. Was she saying that Adrien was their sworn enemy? In other words,  _ Cat Noir? _

“Fine. You have your way. I won’t make you fight him. By all means,  _ join _ him. I’ll just make an akuma that can defeat you  _ both. _ ” With that, Alya turned and walked away.

Trying to make her exhausted and emotionally worn-out brain process all of that information quickly was not easy. “Wait!” Marinette called. “Alya!”

Alya turned around, giving her a hostile look. “No, Marinette. We are  _ over! _ We aren’t friends anymore. Your decision made us  _ enemies. _ ”

That was it. The last straw. Marinette couldn’t take anymore. She couldn’t make it through a day at school. She couldn’t hold back the tears anymore than she already had.

Marinette ran away from the school, ran to the bakery and to the back, up the stairs, through the livingroom and up to her bedroom, not stopping until she lay face down on her bed, bawling her eyes out.

She vaguely registered hearing the door up to her room creak open, and the wood creaking under someone’s weight as they climbed up the ladder to her loft bed. Finally, Marinette felt someone consolingly rubbing her back.

“Do you want to talk about whatever’s bothering you?” Marinette heard her mom ask.

Considering the source of all the issues plaguing her, Marinette would usually tell Sabine  _ No _ without a second thought. But all of this made her mind a little frazzled, and she found herself wanting someone to be able to completely understand her more than anything.

So Marinette sat up and wiped away her tears. “Yes.”

Marinette launched into the story from the very beginning. Becoming Ladybug. Alya figuring out her identity and recruiting her to her side, and why she  _ did. _ Falling for Cat Noir in the fights over the years. Finally meeting him as Marinette, and everything ever since. “And then Alya came up to me this morning. She somehow found out that I was dating Cat Noir, told me that he is Adrien, and that I should join his side, because we’ll never be friends again. With everything  _ else  _ that’s been happening for the past week, that was the last blow that sent me running home in tears.”

Sabine positioned herself to easily wrap her arms around her daughter. “That’s… a lot to take in. But thank you for telling me.”

They just sat there like that for a while, just basking in the peaceful silence.

“You know, it sounds like you’ve been having a rough week, and constantly in low spirits. Maybe it’s time to go out and do something about it,” Sabine suggested.

Marinette looked up at her. “Really? Like what?”

She shrugged. “Take Alya’s suggestion. Go team up with Cat Noir. Maybe go to Adrien’s bedroom and talk to him there.”

“I don’t want to let on that I know who he is.” Marinette rejected the idea. “At least not at first. But you’re right. Talking to him isn’t a bad idea. Thanks, Mom.”

She kissed her mom on the cheek and sat upright. “Tikki! Spots on!”

Then she zipped off to the top of the Eiffel tower.

* * *

Adrien felt terrible. Good thing he had already finished all of his education through homeschooling, weeks before all the others his age had to, otherwise he wouldn’t have had the morning to wallow as he had been.

As nice as it was to not need to pretend in front of anyone, Adrien almost wished for something to do to take his mind off of the fact that Marinette had broken up with him.

Fortunately, that came sooner than he thought.

Plagg, bored out of his mind, decided to watch TV. It was not-quite ten in the morning when he called out to him. “Adrien! I think you better see this.”

Adrien walked over to see footage of Ladybug up on top of the tower. “-doesn’t appear to be doing anything…” the anchor reported.

“We better check it out,” he told his kwami.

“Hmm?” Plagg said, as though the thought hadn’t occurred to him at all. “I just wanted to laugh at your reaction when you felt terrible and jumped to the conclusion that it was your fault because of yesterday.”

“Plagg!” Adrien protested as the kwami was in hysterics. “Claws out!”

Cat Noir raced to the tower. Though he did dismiss the news crews at the bottom first, telling them that he could manage Ladybug himself, thank you very much.

Finally, he reached the top, where Ladybug was backing away from the edge where she had been seen from.

Cat didn’t waste any time. “What do you want, LB?”

Ladybug gave him a pouting face, that he was irritated by how entirely  _ cute _ it looked. “What? Do I  _ have _ to be part of an attack on Paris every time that you see me?”

He took a deep breath in and out. “Well, considering that is definitely what usually happens, I’m going to say  _ yes. _ So what  _ do _ you want, LB?”

Her face sobered. “I’m not going to fight you anymore, Cat Noir. Congratulations. You’ve defeated me. Almost effortlessly.”

Cat blinked. “Wait. What? You’re really… not working with Hawk Moth anymore?”

Ladybug nodded.

This would either be great, or… a trick. “Prove it.”

She took a deep breath. “I’ll tell you why it’s true. I decided that I couldn’t fight you anymore when you told me the cost that the Wish Hawk Moth wants has. It’s what I tried talking to you about last night.”

He just stared. Cat had somehow defeated Ladybug without trying, in such a way that they were now… allies? Except one thing simply didn’t add up. “Wait. I never told  _ you _ about the cost of a wish. I was going to, until Master Fu, the guardian of the Miraculous, told me that I shouldn’t. So how did  _ you _ find out?”

Ladybug smirked at him. “Spots off.”

Reddish-pink bubbles covered her in her transformation, and left in the place of Ladybug…

_ Marinette. _

For the past three months, Cat Noir had been fighting his girlfriend on a weekly basis, without knowing it.

“Marinette?” It was unbelievable. She was his enemy, his adversary, his…

Cat smiled. “Well. I suppose this isn’t  _ too _ bad. To think, that I thought someone  _ else _ was my soulmate.”   
She laughed. “I know, Adrien. I thought the same. It’s kind of silly that I broke up with my soulmate because I was starting to fall in love with my soulmate.”

“A-Adrien?” Cat spluttered. “How’d you find out?”

Marinette scowled. “About that… Alya saw you transform last night, and then jump up to my balcony. She didn’t realize that we broke up, but she found out about our relationship, and told me that the two of us won’t work together anymore, revealing your identity to me in the process.” She looked up and met his eyes. “So we really need to take care of her.”

Cat Noir knew who Alya was, as Marinette’s friend. But the way she was talking about her… “Wait. Is  _ Alya  _ Hawk Moth?”

Marinette nodded. “Yeah. We need to… I don’t know. Start an intervention or something. We need to stop her, and the sooner, the better.” She looked down at her purse. “Tikki. You ready to transform again?”

A little thing that looked a bit like Plagg… like a kwami… popped its head out of the purse. Eating a cookie. “Almost done, Marinette.”

Cat grinned. “So… that Ladybug named Tikki that you were talking about was… your kwami?”

“Yeah. Makes more sense now, doesn’t it?”

He nodded and took her hand. “So,  _ Princess. _ Can we reverse the breakup that we had last night?”

“Hmm…” Marinette put a hand on her chin, as though she really had to think about it. “Maybe officially as getting together as Adrien and Marinette, though. It will look more natural as two civilians than either one of us as a superhero or supervillain.”

Cat Noir brought Marinette’s hand up and planted a kiss on it, smiling. “Well, once we clear your name as Ladybug, I look forward to dating you as  _ superheroes _ as well.”

She gave him her dazzling smile. “Spots on.” Once Ladybug replaced Marinette, still with that equally dazzling smile, she got on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “That will have to last Cat Noir until we manage to do that. And convince the public that we’ve fallen in love slowly but surely.”

Cat didn’t even try to wipe off the stupid grin that he knew was on his face. “Well, how about we go take care of that first part now?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Easy reveal, because I had them work out liking both sides of each other and hate it when reveals go bad.  
> SO, In the original post, there was a lot of possibilities to tip the balance. Followed by a question if it were possible to do them all. I tried my best. Here's the list, decide for yourself if I succeeded or not.  
> Maybe one person’s identity is revealed. Maybe both are. Maybe one figures it out but doesn’t tell the other. Maybe one confesses to being soulmates with someone else. Maybe Cat Noir proposes to Marinette. Maybe she proposes to him. Maybe one of them is feeling so guilty about being in love with two people that he/she breaks up Marichat. Maybe Hawk Moth figures out Cat Noir’s identity or about their secret relationship. Maybe Ladybug finally switches to the good side, so they become allies instead of enemies, and it upsets their whole dynamic. Maybe one finally defeats or seriously injures the other in battle.


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are wrapped up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a sucker for Adrienette, and I really wanted an Adrienette kiss. But since this is truly a Marichat fic, I decided to give a kiss to each side of the lovesquare. Marichat and LadyNoir are actually the previous chapter(though there is another Marichat coming up next chapter), and Ladrien is... on a technicality. Adrienette is much more obvious.

By the time it was the end of the school day, Cat Noir had managed to let the public know that Ladybug was no longer a villain(though it would probably take them some time to accept it), and Ladybug had managed to inform Cat Noir about everything she knew about Hawk Moth, telling him the whole story with how they joined forces and eventually stopped working together.

They were on the same page and just chatting when Alya came into her room(which they snuck into) after school.

“Aaugh!” Alya cried out upon seeing them.

“What is it?” a weak voice drifted in. Alya’s mom.

“Nothing, Mom!” she called back. “Just left my window open and an alley cat and a bug snuck into my room. I’ll take care of it.”

Alya closed the door and scowled at them. “Unless you’re here to surrender your Miraculouses, I do  _ not _ want to see you two. The heroes of Paris.”

Ladybug frowned. “No thank you. What I told you on Sunday still holds. Cat Noir told me after he learned it from the guardian of the Miraculous.” She took a deep breath. “Despite what you said this morning, Alya, you’re still my friend. Nora will always be lost, but there are  _ other _ ways to help your mom.”

Something seemed to click inside her best friend’s mind. Tears began to well up in her eyes. “My mom… she wouldn’t like this, would she?”

Ladybug walked up to her and gave her a great big hug. “She wouldn’t, Al. But don’t worry. You can still try to do better.”

* * *

Cat Noir remained silent for most of the visit to Hawk Moth’s- who was also Alya. This was all so bizarre, and he was still trying to wrap his head around it all. That alone was enough to prevent him from trying to say too much.

But, more importantly, it wasn’t his fight, his conversation to have. That talk belonged between them. Cat needed to be there, to support and have a part in making Hawk Moth see reason. But it was really for Alya and Marinette to make amends, for the supervillains to renounce their ways, for the friends to reunite.

The whole thing was bittersweet. And that was with Cat only being there to  _ watch  _ it. He would hate to have something like that happen to him, to be in the position of either.

So he could say he was relieved when he was able to go back home, back to his room, and detransform.

Adrien went and sat in his chair, still trying to process everything he had learned that day. He started trying to consider what all was happening when he was distracted by a knock on his window.

He turned and saw Ladybug at the window. He went and let her in, but have her a curious look. "What are you doing?"

She pouted, though it was obviously faked. "What? Don't you _ want _ to see me?"

Adrien rolled his eyes. "Of  _ course,  _ m'lady. How could I date question you?"

Ladybug gave him a dazzling smile. "I just wanted to thank you for today. It started out so terrible, but with your help, it has ended amazing."

"You did most of the work," he shrugged off. "I only reacted to everything."

"Still, I'm thankful. Just think; now, Hawk Moth will stop terrorizing Paris, so it won't need Car Not as much."

From the tone, Adrien could tell Ladybug meant it in a supportive way, but it was terrifying.

She must've seen that on his face, because she frowned. "What?"

He grimaced. "Just… I don't  _ want _ Paris to stop needing Cat Noir. I'm not sure how much you've seen it, since I'm usually free around the time you work, but my schedule is _ stiflingly  _ busy. Being Cat Noir is one of the things I look forward to."

Mouth agape, Ladybug put her hands up to the sides of his face. "Don't worry. Even if there's no supervillain to combat, I'm sure that Paris will appreciate Cat Noir."

Adrien let her pull his head down, resting their foreheads against each other, then running their noses together. Was that called an Eskimo kiss? It was comforting, whatever it was called.

Ladybug pulled back. "If you're eighteen now, and unhappy here, you could move out, anytime."

That… Adrien actually hadn't thought of that. "That's a great idea, bugaboo." He smiled at her. "I think I'll do just that."

Suddenly, Ladybug leaned into him wrapping her arms around him, initiating a hug Adrien promptly returned. "I need to leave now. My mom's probably wondering what's taking me so long. See you tomorrow?"

Adrien nodded. She left almost immediately, leaving him wishing for her warmth again when she left.

* * *

Marinette took a deep breath. Today was the big day. Everything would come into public knowledge. Well, maybe not quite the _ whole  _ story, but what was needed.

"Alright! I'm off!" She waved to her parents.

Tom frowned. "Are you sure that this is such a good idea?"

Last night, she had filled her dad in on the whole thing, and informed _ both _ her parents about the plan. Tom had been concerned about what the reaction would be to the public discovering her identity. Though he was excited upon finding out that she was dating Cat Noir.

Marinette sighed. "Dad, I think this is right. I'm sure it will work out. Okay?"

Reluctantly, Tom nodded. "Okay. Have a good day at school."

She waved to her parents one last time and then turned to leave. And ran right into someone.

"Ah! Sorry, sorry. I wasn't expecting anyone to be there…" Marinette trailed off as she looked up and saw who it was. "Adrien?"

Adrien have her an annoyingly attractive lopsided smile. "Morning, Princess."

She quickly hugged him. After a moment, Marinette pulled back to look at him in the eye. "Not that I don't like seeing you, but what are you doing here?"

He shrugged. "I don't want to miss all of the action."

Marinette switched to hugging his arm so that they could start walking to her school. "I told my parents about the plan last night, after catching my dad up on everything I told my mom yesterday. He wasn't too keen on the whole exposing my identity thing."

Adrien frowned. "I was thinking about it too. I think we need to let the public know Hawk Moth's identity, but keep yours a secret."

Marinette tilted her head to convey her confusion.

Adrien smiled at her. "I mean, it wouldn't do much good for the identity of one of the Heroes of Paris to be common knowledge."

It took a moment for that to sink in. She gasped once it did. "Wait! You mean…  _ I get to keep my Miraculous? _ " She honestly hadn't expected to be able to do so, after terrorizing Paris for so long.

Adrien nodded. "I went over and asked Matter Fu what to do last night. He was the one to suggest it, in fact. He must really trust you."

Marinette couldn't help herself. She stopped and went on her tiptoes to give Adrien a kiss on the cheek. She returned right back to cuddling his arm, but not so quickly to miss his blush. She giggled. Marinette loved that she could make him react like that.

Adrien pulled his arm out of her great, and put it around Marinette's shoulders, pressing her to his side. He chuckled as he pressed a kiss to her head, making her blush. Apparently, it was mutual.

Marinette pressed get face into his shirt in order to hide her blush. Though she was flustered, she loved this feeling.

Now all that they needed was to tell Hawk Moth's identity to Nino and then the public.

* * *

Nino looked up as he saw his girlfriend approaching him. She looked very nervous.

He straightened from his slouch and took his headphones off. "What's bothering you, Al?"

Alya nervously glanced behind her. Nino followed the gaze. There was Marinette, hugging the side of a blond kid that looked vaguely familiar, who had his arm wrapped around her. Since when was Marinette dating someone?

Alya looked back at Nino and took a deep breath. "Nino, I have something to tell you." She bit her lip. "I'm Hawk Moth."

Before Nino had a chance to realize what she just said, she threw up her hands defensively. "I can explain."

And Alya  _ did  _ explain. Everything.

Well, almost. "So, who  _ is _ Ladybug?"

Alya glanced back at Marinette. "Her identity is on hold. She's going to be a hero now, after all. Anyhow, I found her out, and…."

After she finished explaining everything, Nino took a second to think about it. But he knew in his heart that there wasn't really anything to consider.

"So do you want to have our usual Friday night date tonight or not?" he asked.

Alya blinked, surprised. "Wait. You're done with the fact that I've been terrorizing Paris longer than I've really known you?"

Nino took her hands in his. "Alya, you explained why you did that, and I understand and accept that. But I love you, and this won't win or relationship. So, are we still good for tonight or not?"

Alya smiled. "Sure. Except that we're telling  _ everyone  _ who I am today, so let's meet at your place and keep it private, okay?"

Nino leaned forward and kissed Alya. He loved this girl, and nothing would come in the way of that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awww... look. It's DJ WiFi. Even though it's not called that in this universe.  
> What would it be called? DJ Moth? Something to do with just them? Ninya? No, not that. It's a stupid one.  
> Tell me if you have any better ideas, if you care for their ship name in this random universe.


	17. Chapter 17

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Extreme Fluff Ahead.

It had been two weeks since they released the news. The whole story.

Alya was young enough that the government decided to let her crimes go. The social aspect was worse at first, but it had died down by that point.

Ladybug was a different matter. Public opinion was more accepting of her than Hawk Moth, simply because she always healed the damage from the battles. But it was still hard to accept that she was now supposed to be a hero. However, as she went out doing as much good as Cat Noir(or sometimes more than him- it was definitely a competition), they began to ease their fears.

They had graduated. Now it was summer- or more accurately, the beginning of the rest of her life. Marinette want going to college, because she hadn't been confidant enough to apply for the fashion college she wanted to back when she needed to, and she was set up to take up a full-time position working under Angelique Couture starting next week.

Honestly, there was only one thing that Marinette could complain about.

She had hardly seen her boyfriend in the two weeks since this whole thing began.

So that's why she was out there on her balcony, moping. Maybe hoping that he would show up.

Her hopes were fulfilled when she heard a soft landing behind her.

Marinette turned to see Cat Noir, smiling. Seeing his identical expression, she controlled her face back into a neutral expression.

"Where have you been? I've only seen you while our helping Paris these past two weeks."

Cat's expression fell a bit. "Sorry. I know you like seeing me, but I was doing something important."

She raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He nodded. "You see, a while ago- about two weeks, to be precise- my soulmate and love of my life gave me a good piece of advice. I decided to follow it, and have spent that time searching for a house to hopefully start a family with her."

Wait. What was he saying? Implying?

Marinette uncertainty must've reached her face, because his expression softened. "Today, I finally bought a house, so that I can get away from my father. Now I only have to ask her a very important question."

She couldn't tell whether she should be shocked our excited as he dropped to his knee.

"I know we've tried this before, but I'd like to try again," Cat Noir continued. "I love you, Princess, m'lady. Marinette, Ladybug, would you do me, Adrien and Cat Noir, the honor of becoming my wife?"

Marinette decided to be shocked. She simply had her eyes wide open, hand covering her gaping mouth.

He frowned. "What?"

"S-sorry," Marinette apologized. "Just… it's so sudden."

Now  _ he  _ looked like he was panicking. "You don't have to answer right now. You can think on it. We can wait a while to be married, too. I just thought that it was a good time. We got rid of Hawk Moth, you're good again, we're graduated, we're soulmates, and-"

Marinette cut him off by pressing her lips to his. Cat Noir seemed startled at first, then melted into the soft and tender kiss. It was their first one. They moved forward really slowly at first due to their secrets and developing other feelings, and they hadn't exactly had time since their reveal to do anything about it.

Finally, Marinette pulled away from the kiss to see a breathless Cat Noir. "The answer is yes. I love you so I'd love to be your wife and live in whatever house your found and raise a family in it. I will marry you, my sweet, silly kitty."

He gave a shy smile. "Can we do that again?"

Marinette replied by putting her face near his, letting him to be the one to initiate the kiss this time.

Things were good. Dare Marinette say perfect? She knew they wouldn't always be like this, but for now, they were.

And that was enough to make this whole mess worth it.

The End

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this! It was a ton of fun to write!


End file.
